Chief Minister for the Isle of Man Tony Brown, First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson, Secretary of State for Wales Paul Murphy, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness, Chief Minister of Jersey Frank Walker and Chief Minister Lyndon Trott. (Picture by PA News, 0645905)

CHIEF Minister Lyndon Trott and Deputy Chief Minister Bernard Flouquet were in Scotland yesterday meeting fellow political leaders at a British-Irish Council summit.

They included Northern Ireland ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, who used emergency powers to agree the visit despite difficulties with their executive.

The meeting, the first in Scotland for six years, took place at Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh, and was led by  Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who hopes to bring energy matters within the scope of future deliberations.

‘There is an enormous opportunity to be found in terms of the generation of renewable energy, but there is not yet a strategy for connectivity and transmission.’