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Covid-19: 'Constructive' North-South meeting on Covid-19

Micheál Martin Micheál Martin and Leo VaradkarMicheál Martin
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar were joined virtually by representatives from Northern Ireland

Discussions at Friday's North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meeting have been "constructive", Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin has said

Writing after the meeting, Mr Martin said the response to Covid-19 had been "high on the agenda", along with "the implications of Brexit".

The meeting between representatives from both sides of the border was held virtually.

The first and deputy first ministers took part in the meeting.

They were joined by Irish government leaders.

The NSMC is the main body for cross-border co-operation between the governments of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Its last full meeting took place at the end of July.

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It is one of the institutions set up under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the peace accord that is widely seen as marking the effective end of Northern Ireland's Troubles.

It was the first time the body has met virtually, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The meeting comes a day after the Stormont Executive agreed to impose a new six-week lockdown in Northern Ireland, starting on 26 December.

The new rules will be much stricter than what has been in place across Northern Ireland for most of the pandemic.

'Solidarity'

Outlining the decisions on Thursday after the executive agreed the changes, Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said if interventions were not taken now, the health service would be "crushed in January".

Earlier this week, Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin said his government was in "solidarity with Northern Ireland" in trying to curb the transmission of the virus.

He said the Republic of Ireland would offer any help that was required, but added that he regretted there was not complete alignment between the two jurisdictions.

Paramedics from the Republic of Ireland's National Ambulance Service (NAS) will be working in Northern Ireland this weekend, to help relieve pressures on the health service in NI.

It is not the first time NAS ambulances have helped out in NI, they assisted during the first wave of the pandemic and also in 2019.