Unionists get invitation to meet Dail committee
September 25, 2006
Unionists get invitation to meet Dail committee. Check it out:(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) UNIONIST politicians could appear before a Dil parliamentary committee in the near future, it emerged yesterday.
The all-party Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business said that it would consider a proposal by the SDLP to invite unionist parties from the North to Dublin for talks at Leinster House.
Addressing a session of the all-party body, Sean Farren, the SDLP enterprise spokesman, suggested that the committee should extend an invitation to members of Ian Paisley's Democratic Union Party and the Ulster Unionist Party as part of ongoing North-South co-operation initiatives.
Committee chairman Donie Cassidy said: 'We will certainly pursue the possibility of inviting all parties in the North to come down to have dialogue with us.
'We would also accept an invitation to see how we can play our part in visiting Stormont.' Earlier, Mr Cassidy called also for a substantial 20-year EU investment plan to help the North's economy.
'The South has achieved a lot with Europe and the North could certainly be achieving just as much if the EU played its part,' he said.
Committee member Phil Hogan added that such co-operation would lead to further integration and less duplication of services on both sides of the border.
Meanwhile, committee members pulled no punches as they called for the northern parties to agree on power-sharing before the November 24 deadline set by the British and Irish governments.
Fianna Fil senator Terry Leyden said: 'For God's sake get your act together. It will be the last chance for a long time to come unless you all move on November 24.' Mr Farren said that if no deal is agreed on devolution, the politicians would continue to carry out their work.
'We can't just fold up our tents and walk away,' he said.
The SDLP delegation, which attended the committee meeting, included MLAs John Dallat and Dolores Kelly.
Copyright 2006 Daily Mail. Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire.
Related Tags: committee, north, North, invitation, party, Committee
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