The legislation clearing the way for the transfer of government powers from London to the new Stormont Assembly is still be debated in the House of Commons.
In Stormont, the new Ministers have been briefed by senior civil servants ahead of the transfer of powers from Westminster on Thursday. The ten new Ministers, including Martin McGuinness and Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin, were getting to know their departments and the officials in advance of the formal transfer of powers to the new administration.
The new Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister, Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey said that there was an expectation in both communities that the formation of the executive must be followed by decommissioning. At Westminster, the devolution legislation was brought before the House of Lords by the outgoing Agriculture Minister Lord Dubs and it is due to be passed by the Commons tonight.
The Northern Secretary said that the establishment of a power-sharing Executive was a very happy development. Praising the dedication of the new Ministers, Peter Mandelson said that people in the North expected the new structures to be made to work and would be unforgiving and very frustrated with any party or politician who stood in the way of the enormous prospect for peace, stability and prosperity. He said that he was very happy to be almost redundant, but would be retaining responsibility for policing and security.
In Dublin, the Cabinet will meet on Thursday to ratify the changes to Articles Two and Three of the Constitution, removing the Republic's territorial claim on the North. Before then, the Taoiseach is expected to meet the Stormont First Minister David Trimble in Armagh. This will pave the way for the establishment of the North-South ministerial council which will have its first meeting in the Cathedral city, probably before the end of next week.
The former chairman of the Northern peace talks, George Mitchell, has said that he believes all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement will be implemented. When asked if he was concerned that the Ulster Unionists could still collapse the Executive in February, Mr Mitchell said he preferred not to speculate on failure. The former United States Senator was speaking to reporters outside the White House after discussing events in Northern Ireland with President Clinton. Responding to press questions, Mr Clinton said that yesterday was a good day for the peace process.
