The Government is committed to allowing members of the Garda Síochána join the Police Service of Northern Ireland and vice versa, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said this afternoon.
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Mr Brian Cowan was speaking outside Leinster House following a meeting to discuss security and policing issues in Northern Ireland with an SDLP delegation.
"Today’s meeting was a timely opportunity to assess the considerable progress made to date in implementing the Patten Report; more importantly, we also discussed what still needs to be done to fully realise the Patten vision," he said.
Mr Cowan said the name change to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the start of training by new recruits drawn 50/50 from both sides of the community was evidence of the implementation of Patten.
"We will continue to work with the SDLP, and the other parties, to bring about a truly acceptable and representative police service for all people of northern Ireland," he said.
Mr Cowen met with the SDLP's nominees to the Policing Board, Mr Eddie McGrady MP MLA, Mr Joe Byrne MLA and Mr Alex Attwood MLA.