Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern presents Certificates to graduates of North/South Public Service Training Programme

North/South and Cross-Border Public Sector Training Programme (2)

Module 4: Cross-Border Co-operation at NGO, Local Authority and Community Level
1 July 2005
Fairways Hotel, Dundalk

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern TD, presented certificates to 20 civil and public servants who became the second group of graduates of the North/South Public Sector Training Programme at a ceremony in the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk on 1st July. This programme marks the first time since partition that a group of public officials from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have undertaken a joint training programme.

Mr Ahern congratulated both the participants and the organisers, noting that there were now over 700 civil and public servants in the North/South co-operation field and calling the training programme “an example of cross-border co-operation working at its best”. A message of support was also received from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Peter Hain MP.

The 20 officials who took the three month course came from a wide range of civil and public service organisations including the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment, the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government, the North/South Ministerial Council, the Health Service Executive, the Border Midland and Western Regional Assembly, the Food Safety Promotion Board, the Institute for Public Health in Ireland, Co-operation and Working Together (health boards and health trusts), the British Council (Belfast), Monaghan County Council, Leitrim County Council, Omagh District Council, Newry and Mourne District Council and County Louth VEC.

The training course, which was funded by the EU Peace Programme, was organised by a partnership made up of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and Co-operation Ireland.

The course consists of four modules: North/South co-operation in the public and NGO sectors; North/South public finance and governance issues; North/South economic and business co-operation; and cross-border co-operation at NGO, local authority and community level.

The next course will take place in January 2006. For further details contact Steve Mungavin at CIPFA (Stephen.mungavin@ipf.co.uk) or Andy Pollak at the Centre for Cross Border Studies.

Every participant on the North/South and Cross-Border Public Sector Training Programme was linked with a cross-border partner to undertake a joint assignment. The winning assignment of the second series was ‘All-Island Service for the Recycling of Waste Fridges and Freezers – a tangible dividend of North/South co-operation?’ by Rosaleen Keane, North/South Unit, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Colm O’Hare, North/South Ministerial Council, Joint Secretariat.