Every day, it seems, new and harsh cuts to our public services are announced by those civil servants forced to run Northern Ireland’s departments because there is no functioning government. Cuts, so far, have included schemes that support toddlers from deprived families, schooling for children with special needs and student places on nursing and allied …

Radical reform to NI revenue-raising is needed but I doubt we’ll get it Read More »

The Windsor Framework should be wonderful news for Northern Ireland’s economy. But even if the DUP and wider unionism do endorse it, this is only the beginning of a necessary new journey if it is to lead to greater prosperity and more jobs. As we approach the 25 year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, …

Windsor Framework has potential to lead NI to greater prosperity Read More »

Sir Michael Lyons’ review of Invest NI is both brutal and excellent. This is an organisation, his report suggests, that has weak strategic leadership, poor internal and external relationships and fails to achieve the necessary influence on partner organisations. “Profound changes are needed in the organisation that requires reform and repurposing….. there is considerable room …

A brutal put-down of Invest NI Read More »

It is often referred to as the ‘productivity puzzle’, yet there are some obvious reasons why NI underperforms against competitors when it comes to economic performance and output per person. The whole of the UK, in fact, has underperformed in terms of productivity in the period of recovery since the Great Recession of 2008/9. Brexit …

The Productivity ‘Puzzle’ Read More »

Austerity in 2010 was a cause of subsequent weak economic output, according to some leading economists. “The UK’s underperformance arguably owes rather more to austerity and George Osborne than to Brexit and David Cameron,” wrote London School of Economics professor Jonathan Portes a few days ago. Portes, a former government economist, pointed out that the …

Austerity Read More »

Whether you are a unionist, republican, or neither, there is near universal recognition that Queen Elizabeth helped bind the United Kingdom. The challenge for King Charles will be to achieve a similar role. If he doesn’t – and it will be tough for a man often regarded as remote – the prospects for Irish reunification …

Interesting times Read More »

The debate on when, and how quickly, to exit the lockdown has been posed as a choice between health and wealth. But that is the wrong way of looking at it.   For a start, the longer the lockdown persists, the more negative the health impacts for some people. There has been an increase in …

Health v. wealth in times of Covid Read More »