The East–West Council was established in 2024 as part of the Northern Ireland Executive reformation with a purpose to improve links between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.^[1]

According to the Government of the United Kingdom its missions include:^[2]

• Sharing "best practice" between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on economic inactivity and offering advisory support to implement "major projects"
• Recommending interventions on east–west investment and assessing existing funding and investment strategies
• Improving international investment to Northern Ireland
• Bolstering east-west connectivity

The idea of forming an East-West Council was first proposed by Democratic Unionist Party Leader Jeffrey Donaldson in October 2023 as a prerequisite to restoring a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland. Donaldson hoped that the proposed body would “bring together representatives from across the United Kingdom”, on a “regular basis" to "discuss and collaborate on opportunities for enhanced co-operation”.^[3] Plans for the council were outlined in a command paper published by the UK government in February 2024.^[4] Devolved government was restored in Northern Ireland on 3 February 2024 when a first minister, deputy first minister and executive were nominated by the Northern Ireland Assembly. The East-West Council met for the first time on 26 March 2024 at Dover House in London.^[5]

The council is made up of representatives from the UK government, Northern Ireland Executive, business and civil society.^[6] It was chaired by the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.^[7]