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  • Notting Hill Carnival - Belfast Style

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    Nevin
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    Is the secure residence in Notting Hill, Malone Road, Belfast, the Irish 'embassy'? London has been more forthcoming than Dublin on the BIIGS staffing issue: Your Request (i) Mary Madden is the British Joint Secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (iii) There are currently eleven Northern Ireland Office staff on the British side In relation to the information requested in ii and iv relating to the Irish side of the British Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat, we have concluded that these details are exempt from release under section 27 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as disclosure would be likely to prejudice relations between the UK and the Irish Government. Section 27 is a qualified exemption and requires a public interest test to be carried out. The public interest test is a balancing exercise to consider whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in releasing the information. This is set out in Annex A attached."

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    Is the secure residence in Notting Hill, Malone Road, Belfast, the Irish 'embassy'? London has been more forthcoming than Dublin on the BIIGS staffing issue: Your Request (i) Mary Madden is the British Joint Secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (iii) There are currently eleven Northern Ireland Office staff on the British side In relation to the information requested in ii and iv relating to the Irish side of the British Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat, we have concluded that these details are exempt from release under section 27 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as disclosure would be likely to prejudice relations between the UK and the Irish Government. Section 27 is a qualified exemption and requires a public interest test to be carried out. The public interest test is a balancing exercise to consider whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in releasing the information. This is set out in Annex A attached."

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    2K views2 pages

    Notting Hill Carnival - Belfast Style

    Uploaded by

    Nevin
    Is the secure residence in Notting Hill, Malone Road, Belfast, the Irish 'embassy'? London has been more forthcoming than Dublin on the BIIGS staffing issue: Your Request (i) Mary Madden is the British Joint Secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (iii) There are currently eleven Northern Ireland Office staff on the British side In relation to the information requested in ii and iv relating to the Irish side of the British Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat, we have concluded that these details are exempt from release under section 27 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as disclosure would be likely to prejudice relations between the UK and the Irish Government. Section 27 is a qualified exemption and requires a public interest test to be carried out. The public interest test is a balancing exercise to consider whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in releasing the information. This is set out in Annex A attached."

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    20 May 2010 Our Ref: AD0100047 Dear ************, On behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr.

    Michel Marin T.D., I wish to thank you for your recent query regarding the staffing of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat in Belfast. For reasons of security and data protection, it is not possible for us to provide you with details of the Irish staff serving the Secretariat. The Secretariat is a joint Irish-British body and is staffed by officials of both the Irish and British governments. It would not be correct to say that the position of the Joint Secretary is comparable to that of persons serving as Heads of Irish missions abroad. Should you wish to make contact with the Secretariat directly, the relevant details are as follows: British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat Windsor House 9-15 Bedford Street Belfast BT2 7EL The Secretariat can be contacted directly on 048 90 443900 or 0801 232 443900. Yours sincerely, END During the course of a conversation with a member of the BIIGS staff it transpired that the Irish Joint Secretary was Kieran Dowling. His status would appear to lie somewhere between that of Ambassador and NI Secretary of State. Donal Hamill, a predecessor, became Irish ambassador to Sweden in 2009 after four years as ambassador to the Czech Republic. A similar pattern appears in the status of the Irish joint secretary to the North-South Ministerial Council based in Armagh: http://www.crossborder.ie/notes-from-the-next-door-neighbours/a-solid-statement-that-northsouth-cooperation-is-here-to-stay/ Armagh is now on the Irish diplomatic circuit. Next month the highly regarded Southern Joint Secretary of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC), Tom Hanney, leaves to become Irish ambassador to Belgium. His successor, Anne Barrington, is finishing her days as ambassador to Tanzania. The man who will fill in over the summer, the current Southern Deputy Joint Secretary, Bill Nolan, used to be ambassador in Zambia and Lesotho. His predecessor, Niall Honohan, is now ambassador to Saudi Arabia. A magazine article some years ago claimed that Armagh was among the dozen most popular postings in the Irish diplomatic service. We in our small South Ulster metropolis should be honoured. Irish diplomats are highly esteemed

    all over the world, from the United Nations to the British Foreign Office. Their diplomatic and drafting skills were honed to the limit in the negotiation and formulation of international treaties like the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, which are now widely studied as examples of best practice in how governments can work together to overcome the ancient and seemingly insoluble problems of inter-communal conflict and clashing sovereignties. The North South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat which Anne Barrington is coming in to head, alongside another impressive woman, Northern Joint Secretary Mary Bunting, a senior official from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Belfast, is itself a success story. Kieran Dowling gets a mention in this document: http://www.irland-journal.de/mediapool/84/849092/data/irland_journal_Nr_3-11_Seiten_3336_Elmar_Conrads-Hassel_WEB.pdf

    Venue: Residence of the Irish Joint Secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat (BIIGS) Kieran Dowling, Irish Joint Secretary, BIIGS. The residence is in Notting Hill, off the Malone Road, Belfast.

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