Secretary of State commences visit to the US
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP, will tomorrow undertake an intensive 2 day programme to New York and Washington DC
Ms Villiers will use her visit to update members of the US Administration and senior figures within the Irish American community on the Fresh Start Agreement reached in November 2015.
She will highlight the significant progress made since November in putting the Northern Ireland institutions on a more stable and sustainable footing, and towards building a brighter, more secure future for Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State said:
I welcome the opportunity to brief members of the US Administration who continue to support our efforts to move forward the political process in Northern Ireland.
Both the Stormont House Agreement and Fresh Start Agreement are significant achievements yet despite good progress on implementation, challenges remain, not least finding a way to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past.
The Government remains fully committed to establishing the new bodies to deal with the past set out in the Stormont House Agreement and I am currently engaged in discussions with the political parties and victims’ groups to overcome the remaining obstacles.
In addition I look forward to promoting NI as an important investment location for the United States. I also plan to discuss with US experts methods of tackling organised crime which forms such a key part of the Fresh Start Agreement.