NI's Westminster MPs Can Attend Dail

Unionist MPs are likely to ignore an opportunity to attend committee meetings in the Dublin parliament for the first time.

This is even though a newly-formed Joint Committee in the Dail aims to monitor the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which would otherwise have been of considerable interest to all of the Northern Ireland-based Westminster MPs.

However, while the privilege is likely to be used by nationalists but boycotted by unionists, even nationals are not entirely happy.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has said attending committees was "an additional means of engagement on a north/south basis".

He warned it should be no substitute for a north/south parliamentary forum, as envisaged by the Agreement.

Oireachtas committees are cross-party parliamentary bodies made up of Dail and Seanad members.

They shadow various departments and deal with a range of investigations to advise the government.

Sinn Fein has gone further again and made longstanding calls for speaking rights for Westminster MPs in the Dail and Seanad.

However, while this was backed by an Oireachtas committee in 2002, the process to implement this has stalled.

(BMcC)