Timeline

Home Timeline

1998

10 April 1998

After a long period of intensive and complex negotiations, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was signed.

The agreement included provision for establishing a British-Irish Council under Strand 3, covering the ‘East-West dimension’.

1999

First British-Irish Council Meeting

The first meeting of the British-Irish Council took place in London on 17 December 1999, attended by Heads of Administration at Summit level.

2001

Second Summit Meeting

The second Summit Meeting of the British-Irish Council took place in November 2001, in Dublin.

2006

St. Andrew’s Agreement

The St. Andrew’s Agreement, 2006, provided for the establishing of a standing permanent Secretariat to the British-Irish Council ‘with a view to giving further impetus to its [the British-Irish Council] work’.

Six years later the standing Secretariat would be set up in Edinburgh.

2010

Council agrees Secretariat to be hosted in Scotland

In 2010, the British-Irish Council Summit in Guernsey agreed that a standing Secretariat would be hosted by the Scottish Government in Edinburgh.

2012

Standing Secretariat Established

The standing Secretariat to the British-Irish Council was formally established in January 2012, based in Edinburgh, hosted by the Scottish Government.

2022

Summits take place in Guernsey and Blackpool

The British-Irish Council Summits take place respectively in Guernsey (July), focussing on collaborative spatial planning, and in Blackpool (November) where the theme was on sustainable growth and regeneration.

2023

Summits in Jersey and Dublin

The British-Irish Council Summits take place respectively in Jersey (June) focussing on green and affordable housing, and in Dublin (November) where the theme was on child poverty and wellbeing.

In 2023 the British-Irish Council marked the 25th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.