Transport

Overview

Transport has been a natural and shared priority for the British-Irish Council’s eight Member Administrations since the council was established in 1999.  Today, it is axiomatic that modern and clean transport systems and infrastructure are crucial to achieving the decarbonisation and green transition goals of the BIC’s eight member administrations.  Transport is also a sector which has strong overlap with other work sectors.

Lead Administration

The Transport Work Sector was established at the first BIC Summit in 1999 and is currently chaired by the Northern Ireland Executive.

Current Focus

British-Irish Council Ministerial meetings typically take place every three years, and usually involve a combination of a plenary meeting, site visits, and bilateral meetings. The most recent British-Irish Council Transport Ministerial Meeting took place on 4 April 2025 in Belfast, hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive. The plenary meeting was chaired by Minister for Infrastructure Liz Kimmins MLA and Pam Cameron MLA, Junior Minister in the Executive. 

At the plenary meeting, the Ministers outlined recent developments in transport in their administrations over the last year or so.

The Ministers also considered and approved a Forward Work Plan for the BIC Transport Work Sector for the period 2025-27. This will have its primary focus on the following themes:

• Modal shift/active travel/public transport
• Importance of HGV and linkages across these islands
• Decarbonisation of Ports
• Sustainable transport in rural areas

Ministers also heard a presentation on ‘The role of Professional Engineering Institutions, such as the Institution of Civil Engineers’  by David Porter of the Institution of Civil Engineers.   The Ministers agreed that the BIC Transport Work Sector has been a valuable forum for ongoing cooperation in sharing information, and experiences, on the developing and implementing of transport policy.

The Ministerial group also made a site visit to view the new Grand Central Station in central Belfast. They also had a future-focussed guided bus tour of central Belfast.