Trimble and Durkan forge links with Scottish executive

First Minister David Trimble and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan have met with their Scottish counterparts in a bid to strengthen links between the two devolved executives.

The meetings with Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell and Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace are part of the first joint visit by Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, and are a part of a planned series of visits to other devolved administrations.

As part of their fact-finding trip, Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan received briefings from other Scottish executive ministers on the workings of the administration there and also met with the Presiding Officer of the Parliament, Sir David Steele.

The two ministers were expected to discuss areas of common interest with their counterparts in Scotland including: central government funding to devolved administrations; reviews of Public Private Partnerships; relationships between devolved administrations and between devolved administrations and the UK government; relationships between devolved administrations and Europe; and the attracting of Foreign Direct Investment.

During his visit, the first minister offered a lighter view than of late on the prospects for the devolved governments.

Mr Trimble said: "We can't say it's guaranteed, but if I were a betting man, which I'm not, I'd put money on it working. I've gone further than that, I've put my career on it."

Mark Durkan revealed his motivation behind the trip by referring to Scotland's late first minister Donald Dewar.

"Donald Dewar once said to me plagiarism was an underused artform and that devolved administrations should copy what each other were doing," he said.

The First Minister and Deputy First Minister will also brief their Scottish colleagues on the work of the administration in Northern Ireland and outline some of the work and initiatives undertaken during the first two and a half years of devolution in the north.

In the course of their visit, Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan are also due to visit the site of the New Scottish Parliament Buildings where they will meet representatives from Northern Ireland firm Mivan who are involved in the construction of the buildings.

(GMcG)