European links vital to business says Haughey

At a conference in Dublin today, Stormont minister Denis Haughey has stressed the need for devolution to provide an opportunity for strengthening links with the EU.

Mr Haughey, Minister in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, was speaking at a seminar on the EU at Farmleigh which addressed issues central to the business sector, including the euro and the challenges of business enlargement.

Outlining how Northern Ireland developed its approach on European matters, Mr Haughey said: "Devolution has crystallised our identity and status as a region. In so doing, it has changed the nature of our relationship with the EU, as it has indeed with the other parts of Britain and Ireland. This provides new opportunities which we must use to the maximum effect.”

The Minister said that only by engaging effectively with emerging EU policy could we ensure that Northern Ireland's interests are taken fully into account.

"Through cross-border programmes, the EU has led the way in ensuring people come together to assist in revitalising the economy and developing better social links. This process has been built on the out workings of the Good Friday Agreement - the establishment of the North South Ministerial Council and development of a special EU Programmes Body.

"By looking outward, to London, to Dublin and to Brussels and beyond we hope to build on the place we have in the EU and make a real contribution to the Union as a whole," he said.

Other speakers at the seminar included Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament. A reception hosted by the Irish President followed the seminar.

The EU debate is centre-stage in Dublin at the moment as the south prepares to go to the polls for a second time over the ratification of the Nice Treaty. The treaty itself is the lynchpin to EU enlargement and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern suffered a major personal set back when the electorate originally rejected it in last year.

Mr Ahern said: "This treaty is a treaty to allow enlargement, to allow the countries in central and eastern Europe to join their fellow Europeans after over a decade of working hard, after almost half a century of being under Soviet rule, this is their opportunity."

The referendum will be held on October 19.

(GMcG)