Jenny Hjul may well rage against the travel arrangements of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outside Scotland ("Some home truths for our globetrotting First Minister", The Herald, June 23) but her presence in Dublin last week was to fulfil her obligations under the terms of the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

The Agreement which created East-West arrangements to complement the North-South cross-border co-operative institutions also created under Agreement. The British and Irish Council brings heads of the devolved governments in the UK, the Irish and British governments together with representatives of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

The absence of the First Minister in Dublin would have been more worthy of comment than her attendance.

Emeritus Professor Bob Osborne,

Ulster University,

York Street, Belfast.