THE LIFTING of the “pause” on Irish Government capital funding for the Middletown Centre for Autism in Co Armagh was announced at yesterday’s full meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in Limavady, Co Derry.
The NSMC, which was attended by Taoiseach Brian Cowen and seven of his Ministers, and First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and five Northern Ministers addressed a wide range of issues including the economy and the proposed autism centre.
In May this year Northern Sinn Féin Minister for Education Caitríona Ruane clashed with Minister for Education Batt O’Keefe because of his decision to put a hold on funding – prompting Mr O’Keeffe to accuse Ms Ruane of “megaphone diplomacy”.
The NSMC in a joint communique yesterday said it “looked forward to the commencement of interim capital works on-site in Middletown consistent with the development plan as soon as possible”.
Ms Ruane welcomed the announcement. “Funding from my department continued to be available to Middletown during the year and this important project has already provided training to hundreds of professionals,” she said.
“Middletown will be dedicated to improving and enriching the educational opportunities of children and young people with autism,” added Ms Ruane.
The Taoiseach also welcomed the funding for the autism centre. Mr Cowen said that economic matters dominated the NSMC meeting.
He added that the Government was committing €130 million next year to supporting the various cross-Border bodies “because we want to seek to derive mutual benefit from how we can help and work with each other”.
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