Importance of British-Irish Council "cannot be understated"

Saturday 23 June 2018

The likes of Nicola Sturgeon, Leo Varadkar and David Lidington met in Guernsey yesterday for the 30th British-Irish Council, hosted by the States.

The event took place at St Pierre Park Hotel, and a range of topics were discussed from Brexit, marine conservation and financial transparency, along with a review of the Council's activity.

With Mr Varadkar at the meeting, a particular focus was put on the Northern Ireland situation, as national media also came in force to the event to discuss where Brexit was for the country, whether that be regarding the Irish Backstop or where Hollyrood stood.

The Ministers all reaffirmed their commitment to the Council and its role, which is to promote harmonious and mutually beneficial relationships across the islands.

Deputy Gavin St Pier said that from Guernsey's point of view, the summit was incredibly important.

"It gives us the chance to be an equal voice and of equal status at the table, and is a real opportunity for us to air issues we face that would otherwise be a struggle to bring attention to," he said.

"I think you cannot understate the importance of the British-Irish Council for Guernsey, and we have proved that today. To name some of the matters we raised; concerns over student charges, where universities treat us as an overseas destination, NHS charges and problems with connectivity to Heathrow.

"I think the response from David [Lidington, MP and representative of England at the BIC], was very positive [to those concerns]. Obviously the UK government is huge, and we are not going to see all of the problems solved in weeks, but we can get the ball rolling and make people aware of things they may not have been before."

During the press conference following the meeting between the first ministers, a particular focus was put on the finance industry, and how it is going to be protected by the UK when we leave the EU.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "We are all agreed that the standards of transparency and openness in the Crown Dependencies' finance industries' are very improved.

"They have been setting out the steps they have take for us, and there is a need for further education of those to our colleagues."

MP David Lidington added that it was clear to him there was the necessary levels of transparency and openness to prove to the UK that the financial operations in the Channel Islands were suitable, but many other MPs needed educating on that matter.

Both Taoseach Varadkar and First Minister Sturgeon also echoed sentiments expressed by Deputy St Pier and Jersey Chief Minister John Le Fondre, who spoke about the importance of maintaining the constitutional relationships the islands have with Westminsiter. 

First Minister Sturgeon said Scotland had a similar issue at the forefront of their minds, and agreed with Deputy St Pier that it was very important those relationships were respected and maintained.

Express will provide more coverage of the BIC next week.