Your guide to cross-border activities in Ireland
INTRODUCTION
Co-operation on the island of Ireland extends far beyond the highly regarded and often publicised work of the EU Peace and Interreg Funding Programmes. Since 1994 the government development plans in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland1 for EU Structural Funds have included a common chapter or agreed text. The aim of the 'Common Chapter', which is described as a framework for co-operation, is to encourage increased co-operation between Ireland and Northern Ireland, where it is mutually beneficial to do so.
During May 2007 three reports of Common Chapter activity (covering the period 2000 to 2005) have been made publicly available for the first time.2
A strategic focus for co-operation
In essence the Common Chapter, under the direction of the North/South Ministerial Council, was poised to provide a much needed strategic focus informing both the priorities and process for co-operation. However the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive in October 2002 meant that the North-South bodies, including the SEUPB, ran under a provision of 'care AND maintenance'. Prior to suspension a Joint Steering Group which included Department of Finance and SEUPB officials had drawn up terms of reference for monitoring and promotion which allowed them to commission several activity reports.
THE FINDINGS
The last of these reports 3, Common Chapter North/South Activity 2004 and 2005, was completed by the Centre for Cross Border Studies (CCBS) in partnership with FPM Accountant LLP (FPM). The 50-page report highlights important examples of North/South expenditure and activity in all five areas of agreed reporting. The full details of these activities are outlined in the annexes which can also be accessed online (references). Some brief findings from this report are now outlined.
During 2004 and 2005 €846m was allocated to North/ South activity. Table 1 below summarises the breakdown of this expenditure for 2004 and 2005 within the five reporting areas.
Table 1: Summary of Expenditure
The Chart below shows the relative expenditure contribution of each of the five main areas for reporting co-operation over the two year period.
Chart 1: Common Chapter relative expenditure, 2004 and 2005 combined
Almost 50% of the expenditure occurred under the Operational Programmes, primarily in areas such as infrastructural development. During the two year period over twice as much was spent on the operation of the government-led North/South institutions and arrangements established under the Good Friday Agreement than was allocated to support EU Peace, Interreg and Leader Programmes. This is particularly interesting given that this was a period of 'care and maintenance' for the North/South structures and the figures do not include the ¤3.87m expenditure of the North/South Ministerial Council which is exempt from Common Chapter reporting.
TRENDS IN EXPENDITURE
While the Terms of Reference of the SEUPB commissioned report restricted the CCBS/ FPM team from undertaking any evaluative work on the Common Chapter certain trends are evident.
Firstly there has been a consistent upward trend in expenditure on co-operation with an almost €100m increase in annual totals recorded between 2002 (€346m) and 2005(€444m). This has been driven by increasing expenditure on the EU programmes (specifically Peace II and INTERREG IIIA) and the addition of other public sector co-operation outside the areas identified under the Good Friday Agreement. The expenditure from the North/South bodies has also risen steadily during the last two year period.
Chart 2: Common Chapter activity reports summary expenditure, 2002-2005
TRENDS IN QUALITY
Co-operation can occur at varying levels. An effort was made to classify co-operation into three categories - networking without expenditure; activity in one jurisdiction with an impact across the border; and direct joint activity.
A different picture emerges if the expenditure chart only shows spending on activities which involve direct joint North/South co-operation. Chart 3 below shows that when the annual totals only take joint activity into account, they fall from between €401m and €444m to between €227m and €237m. The key reason for this is that the dramatic fall in totals from the Operational Programmes with almost 98% of these totals coming from activities which may have had a cross-border impact but may not, in themselves, have involved co-operation. (e.g. upgrading a road on one side of the border)
Importantly the quality of co-operation appears to be improving with the percentage of co-operation which is classified as joint activity increasing from 36% to 46% over the four year period.
Chart 3: Common Chapter activity reports summary expenditure, 2002-2005
TRENDS IN ACTIVITIES
While expenditure is an important indicator of activity, it does not tell us much about the extent of North/South co-operation or how far this method of work has been embedded either in government operations or policy. Indeed beyond the expenditure figures the trends in North/South co-operative activity present a more mixed picture.
The EU Programmes, Peace II and INTERREG IIIA, have been the driver of the largest numbers of cross-border projects in 2004 and 2005, almost 450 then-current initiatives in total.
The Operational Programmes, on the other hand, have delivered a much smaller amount of activity with a focus on roads projects and some training programmes.
The North/South bodies have consolidated their role and their activity revealed a solid and mainstream nature by 2004-2005 as many of the activities were recorded in previous activity reports and, therefore, have been continued over a four year period or longer.
In the government areas of agreed co-operation there is a mixture of occasional liaison in many sectors but also progress on individual projects, like the all-island centre for excellence for autism, and in the work of Tourism Ireland. It is also noticeable how departments have worked together in the delivery of both the Peace II and INTERREG IIIA programmes.
The new area of reporting, other public sector co-operation, provides a window onto North/South and cross-border co-operation outside those frameworks for co-operation which are supervised by the NSMC. There is a mixed picture here also. In many cases co-operation exists at the level of information sharing or policy liaison. There are also ongoing projects, as varied as the development of the all-island energy market and the speciality food industry trade missions, which are more substantial and offer hope for expanding Common Chapter activity reports in the future.
Could 2007 herald a new era of the Common Chapter?
Previous research 4 highlighted the potential for the SEUPB to develop a key role as an analyst and advocate of all-island co-operation under its Common Chapter mandate. This has not happened. Border Ireland shows a dangerous reliance of most explicit cross-border activity on a narrow range of declining funding programmes, especially Peace and INTERREG. Indeed the capability of the Common Chapter to facilitate the strategic planning, implementation, evaluation and promotion of co-operation appears to have been strangled by 'assumed' political sensitivities.
In January 2007 the new Irish National Development Plan (2007-2013) 5 devoted about €1 billion to north-south investment as part of what was a €184 billion, seven-year plan. Joint North/South funding of £14 million was announced for runway works at Derry airport. Agreement was also secured on a third phase of funding for the Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation-'Peace III' amounting to about €300 million, running from 2007 to 2013. The two governments have also developed a vision for economic collaboration 6 and voiced the necessity for a co-ordinated and cohesive approach to infrastructure investment on the island 7. In May 2007 a powersharing government was established in Northern Ireland which has seen a renewed impetus for neighbourly co-operation. With North/South co-operation firmly on the government agenda across a range of policy domains the need for a North/South strategic framework is now greater than ever. Beyond the expenditure commitments and government visions stringent efforts are needed to identify and manage specific and practical cross-border actions tied to funding allocations, to encourage cross-fertilisation of learning from different situations, and to research what works to create synergies between traditional funding programmes and mainstream programmes. The 'relaunch' of the North/South institutions following their extended period of care and maintenance provides an ideal opportunity to review their comparative effectiveness and increasing importance within the overall picture of developing mutual co-operation.
REFERENCESSee a pdf version of this briefing paper 
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