Indian and Chinese visitors to Britain will no longer need a visa to travel to Ireland - and vice versa.

A new joint visa initiative means they can travel freely within the Common Travel Area using either an Irish or a UK visa.

The new arrangement will come into effect in the autumn.

Announcing the initiative, the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said it would provide a major boost to the number of tourist and business visitors coming to Ireland.

The joint visa scheme will be rolled out to include other countries in the future.