The barring of Sinn Fein from meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council has been branded as unacceptable by an SDLP Executive Minister.
Ms Brid Rodgers was speaking after a meeting of the council with the UUP's junior Executive Minister, Mr Dermot Nesbitt, and Mr Fahey, the Minister for the Marine, in Newcastle, Co Down.
The Ministers were dealing with the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission, one of the six cross-Border implementation bodies established under the Belfast Agreement.
Ms Rodgers said work done by Ministers illustrated how the agreement should work. "We have seen the structures at work and we have seen the benefit that they will bring to people on both sides of the Border, particularly in the loughs areas. These are the structures working as the people agreed them and as they were voted for", she said.
Ms Rodgers criticised the Ulster Unionist Party's policy of refusing to nominate Sinn Fein Ministers to attend council meetings. She said she was functioning as a Minister for the entire community. "I want to see a situation where all Ministers in the Executive are in a position to do exactly the same thing, and it is not acceptable that some Ministers are now not in a position to do that."
Mr Nesbitt defended the UUP stance, saying that his party also wanted to see the full implementation of the agreement, including the decommissioning of paramilitary arms. "The action was taken not to undermine the agreement, but to ensure it is fully implemented", he said.
As part of their morning's work the Ministers considered progress on legislation being prepared by both Ms Rodgers's and Mr Fahey's departments.
Under this, it is envisaged that inspectors will be given legal powers to work on both sides of the Border to enforce regulations on fishing in the Foyle and Carlingford estuaries.
The Foyle Fisheries Commission, whose members are appointed by both the Northern Executive and the Government, polices fishing in Lough Foyle. Enforcement of such matters as fishing licences is carried out jointly, with personnel from each jurisdiction having legal authority in that jurisdiction.
Under the new proposals, FCILC personnel will be empowered to work on both sides of the Border, both at Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough.
Ms Rodgers said this was not surprising, as the FCILC "will be a cross-Border body and I presume the officials will be working in a cross-Border context".
Meanwhile, at a conference in Belfast, the Minister for Health, Ms Bairbre de Brun, announced that the first funds aimed at alleviating child poverty in Northern Ireland could be available by April next year.