Today's meeting between Minister of Justice Dermot Ahern and his Northern Ireland counterpart, David Ford, has been described as 'symbolic' and 'useful'.
The meeting, which took place at Castle Buildings in Stormont, was also attended by Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott.
The four men discussed the threat of dissident republicans as well as other cross-border issues, including human trafficking.
On the issue of head shops and in the UK the ban on the so-called legal high Methadrone, Mr Ahern said that he had instructed his officials to bring forward proposals that would bring the whole area into the criminal justice system.
He said he wanted to give gardaí greater powers to prosecute the owners of head shops for the substances they sell.
