President of German Bundestag visits EBR
24th Sep, 2017
President of German Bundestag visits EBR
East Border Region were delighted to welcome a parliamentary delegation from Germany to County Hall, Dundalk, for a meeting with members of Louth County Council and Newry Mourne and Down District Council to discuss the impact of Brexit on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two Councils.
The MOU aims to further cross-border cooperation on issues like tourism and recreation programmes, sustainable economic growth and job creation; emergency planning and shared resources.
The German delegation was led by Professor Dr. Norbert Lammert, President of the Bundestag, and also included two Members of the Bundestag: Mr. Michael Grosse-Broemer and Ms. Britta Habelmann.
The meeting was facilitated by East Border Region, who are leading on the Brexit Border Corridor Study on behalf of the Border Local Authorities north and south. The East Border Region is chaired by Councillor Sharon Keogh from Meath County Council.
Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD, said, “It was a great pleasure to welcome this delegation to Ireland and to Leinster House this week. Of particular significance is our trip to Dundalk to meet with Louth County Council and Newry Mourne and Down District Council to discuss Brexit and its impact on border communities. We very much appreciate the cooperation of East Border Region in facilitating our meeting today.”
“Trade between North and South and Britain and Ireland must be protected and our meeting with Council representatives will be an informative one for our German colleagues. Louth County Council and Newry Mourne and Down District Council are a great example of the type of cooperation that must be encouraged and nurtured as we and our European colleagues deal with the changes Brexit will bring.”
President Lammert thanked delegates for welcoming his delegation and expressed his resounding support for the border area: “please be assured Germany is very aware of the peculiarity and challenges of your situation due to Brexit and will offer our support in any way we can. We would like to welcome a delegation from the Irish Parliament to Germany to exchange our mutual perceptions”.
