Health and Food Safety Joint Communiqué 14 January 2026
Date published:
The twenty-seventh North South Ministerial Council Health and Food Safety Meeting was held in the NSMC Joint Secretariat Offices Armagh on 14 January 2026. The meeting was attended by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, Minister for Health, Mike Nesbitt MLA, Minister of Health and Aisling Reilly MLA, Junior Minister, The Executive Office. Minister Nesbitt chaired the meeting.
Ministers welcomed the ongoing North/South co-operation in the Health Sector and noted the additional areas that have the potential for further development between the health authorities in both jurisdictions.
Ministers welcomed a presentation from the Chief Medical Officer of Ireland Professor Mary Horgan and Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Northern Ireland Dr Naresh Chada on Obesity, which provided an overview of diet and nutrition, physical activity and health weight related outcomes in Ireland and Northern Ireland
Ministers welcomed the valuable contribution of Safefood, its achievements since the previous meeting and the ongoing rollout of the 2025-2028 ‘Community Food Initiatives’ Programme.
The Joint Communiqué is available to view here.