Justice Ministers Discuss Proposed North-South Cooperation

Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has met with her southern counterpart, Helen McEntee TD, to discuss North-South co-operation across a range of criminal justice matters.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Cooperation on Criminal Justice Matters.

During the meeting the Ministers reviewed progress on a range of ongoing cross-border initiatives in the areas of youth justice, support for victims, public protection, forensic science, and criminal justice and social diversity. The Ministers also agreed a new series of measures to take forward work in these areas from 2023 - 2025.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland and An Garda Siochána also updated the Ministers on the work of the cross border Joint Agency Task Force (JATF) which was established to tackle organised and cross jurisdictional crime. Minister Long said: "I welcome the opportunity to meet with Minister McEntee today to discuss the commonplace challenges faced by our respective justice systems. Combating crime, managing offenders, and supporting victims are at the core of what we do. Cooperating productively offers stronger solutions to dealing with the same. This is evident in the days of action carried out by our law enforcements agencies which are disrupting organised crime gangs and making our communities safer."

Minister McEntee said: "There are high levels of co-operation and operational activity between all the various law enforcement agencies involved in tackling the six priority areas of Rural Crime, Drugs, Trafficking in Human Beings including Children, Immigration Crime, Financial Crime and Excise Fraud. The Joint Agency Taskforce offers strategic direction and operational cooperation, and I am very grateful to all those involved."