Post by earl on Apr 26, 2007 14:06:06 GMT
Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness are to pay tribute to Northern Ireland's ethnic minorities in their first joint event under devolution, it has emerged.
Stormont sources said the First and Deputy First Ministers would hold a special reception for the north`s immigrant groups and the travelling community on May 9 - a day after power is devolved from Westminster.
Members of the Chinese, Pakistani and Indian communities will join Poles, Lithuanians, Filipinos and Ugandans at the reception in Parliament Buildings.
A source said: "There will be a strong sense when devolution gets going of the power-sharing executive hitting the ground running.
"I think it is hugely significant for the new beginning that one of the first joint acts of the First and Deputy First Ministers will be a reception for ethnic communities."
Assembly members are also preparing for the transfer of powers to Stormont becoming a major media event on May 8.
Senior US politicians are tipped to join Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Stormont to celebrate the creation of the new power-sharing government.
There has been speculation that the invitation list could include US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice or former President Bill Clinton.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is to visit Northern Ireland next Tuesday ahead of the transfer of powers and is expected to meet the First and Deputy First Ministers-in-waiting.
Meanwhile, at the last Northern Ireland Question Time in the House of Commons before power is transferred, Peter Hain and his Northern Ireland Office ministers found themselves in the unusual position of answering all their questions before their allotted time was completed.
A Northern Ireland Office official said: "We took that as another positive sign - that minds are now beginning to focus on the devolved administration and the new ministers who will take over at Stormont on May 8."
www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=81756&pt=n
Stormont sources said the First and Deputy First Ministers would hold a special reception for the north`s immigrant groups and the travelling community on May 9 - a day after power is devolved from Westminster.
Members of the Chinese, Pakistani and Indian communities will join Poles, Lithuanians, Filipinos and Ugandans at the reception in Parliament Buildings.
A source said: "There will be a strong sense when devolution gets going of the power-sharing executive hitting the ground running.
"I think it is hugely significant for the new beginning that one of the first joint acts of the First and Deputy First Ministers will be a reception for ethnic communities."
Assembly members are also preparing for the transfer of powers to Stormont becoming a major media event on May 8.
Senior US politicians are tipped to join Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Stormont to celebrate the creation of the new power-sharing government.
There has been speculation that the invitation list could include US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice or former President Bill Clinton.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is to visit Northern Ireland next Tuesday ahead of the transfer of powers and is expected to meet the First and Deputy First Ministers-in-waiting.
Meanwhile, at the last Northern Ireland Question Time in the House of Commons before power is transferred, Peter Hain and his Northern Ireland Office ministers found themselves in the unusual position of answering all their questions before their allotted time was completed.
A Northern Ireland Office official said: "We took that as another positive sign - that minds are now beginning to focus on the devolved administration and the new ministers who will take over at Stormont on May 8."
www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=81756&pt=n