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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Belfast lord mayor to host visit from mayors of Dublin, Manchester and Liverpool

The lord mayor of Belfast is to welcome to the city the mayors of Dublin, Manchester and Liverpool to discuss greater cooperation in tackling climate change.

Kate Nicholl will be joined on Wednesday by Dublin lord mayor Alison Gilliland, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram.

The four are to travel by hydrogen bus across the city for a day of engagements, including visits to a primary school and an environmental business.

Read more: Belfast lord mayor Kate Nicholl says she had to limit social media due to receiving sexist messages

They are also expected to agree a joint statement pledging greater collaboration and partnership in working to meet net-zero carbon emissions commitments in their cities.

Ms Nicholl said the plans developed following discussions during last year's United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow.

The Alliance Party councillor said she hoped the engagements would "raise our ambition" and boost working relationships between the cities post-Brexit.

She told Belfast Live: "In November I attended COP26, and while the outcome was underwhelming, one silver lining was the ambitious climate action I could see being driven by cities.

"Since then I’ve been engaging with the Mayor of Greater Manchester, the Metro Mayor of Liverpool and the Lord Mayor of Dublin as to how we can work together on environmental issues, which has culminated in this visit.

"My hope is that in our cities committing to work on an issue which affects us all, we can provide leadership which is otherwise lacking.

"Not only to accelerate action, collaborate on projects and learn from each other, but also to raise our ambition.

"This visit is the start of a different but exciting way of working for Belfast, and in a post-Brexit context there is hope to be drawn from cities across these islands working together."

The mayors are scheduled to visit Translink as part of their day of engagements, which aim to showcase some of the work being done in Belfast to reduce carbon emissions.

A workshop is also due to be held in which officials from each city will discuss their programme of work and opportunities for further collaboration.

The itinerary follows the mayors of Manchester and Liverpool travelling to Dublin on Monday for a two-day trip aimed at "resettling" relations between the Irish Republic and England's north-west following Brexit.

As part of their engagements Mr Burnham and Mr Rotheram met with the Irish President Michael D Higgins.

Read more: Belfast lord mayor Kate Nicholl says she had to limit social media due to receiving sexist messages

Read more: Mayors in most Northern Ireland councils get ratepayer cash to spend on clothes

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