Seeking the true value of the BIC
LAST week's British-Irish Council summit was a chance to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, and, for some, to half-escape from the feverish Westminster bubble and the ‘herd’.
Our membership of the BIC came as a complete surprise to local officials and politicians back in 1998 when this body emerged as one of the resolutions of the Good Friday Agreement.
Since then, Guernsey has been positive about playing its part, though it is notable that the island does not appear to be leading on any of the BIC’s dozen workstreams, which include digital inclusion, energy, transport, creative industries, indigenous languages and Friday’s special subject, ‘collaborative spatial planning’.
This is explained as ‘planning that goes beyond traditional land use planning to integrate policies... that influence both the nature and function of places’, in case you were wondering.
It’s not clear whether Guernsey has ever benefitted significantly from a BIC workstream, but the States’ long-held belief is that the British-Irish Council has been invaluable for the opportunity to secure access to the higher echelons of British governments.
Before 1999 a Guernsey deputy would never have had the chance to press the flesh with a British prime minister. And though, for obvious reasons, they don’t get that chance this time around, one day it will happen again, and maybe the BIC's true value will emerge.