The economic inactivity rate in Northern Ireland is over 5% higher than in the UK as a whole – 26.6%, compared to 21.5%. The rates are highest – above 32% – in the Derry City/Strabane and Belfast council areas. There are various causes of economic inactivity – the long health waiting lists and higher rates […]
Why early school leaving is an economic as well as a social problem Read More »
A New Ireland – A New Union – Final
A New Ireland – A New Union: The five year review Read More »
Coventry Building Society has completed its £780m acquisition of The Co-operative Bank, which is again now part of the mutual sector. The Bank was never previously a mutual organisation itself, as a plc subsidiary of the Co-operative Group. It was, though, part of the mutual sector. That changed when hedge funds took it over after
Coventry brings Co-op Bank back into the mutual fold Read More »
The Co-operative Bank was central – unwittingly and unhappily – to one of the most controversial political episodes of recent decades. The so-called ‘Stalker Affair’ was established to investigate allegations of a shoot to kill policy by the police and security services in Northern Ireland. It instead led to the ending of the career of
Derry and Donegal are like conjoined twins, bound together by economic, social and cultural links. Policy-makers seeking to improve the economy and quality of life in one must do so jointly with the other. Derry was, in effect, the capital city of the North West region before partition and it remains so today, despite the
“Firms involved in global markets tend to require higher skilled workers than firms that only serve the domestic market,” according to a study from the World Trade Organisation. The implications of the WTO report (‘Skills and Export Competitiveness for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’) are that businesses, especially smaller firms, are dependent on the quality of
The skills challenge facing Northern Ireland exporters Read More »
“The press takes [Donald Trump] literally but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” This observation back in 2016 by journalist Salena Zito has become emblematic of the once and future President of the United States. It makes it almost impossible to assess which of his apparent ‘promises’ he intends to keep
Capital investment is essential for economic growth and to upgrade our infrastructure. This is especially the case with NI Water, whose works backlog is constraining housing and industrial development and urban regeneration. Public spending on infrastructure is limited by spending rules self-imposed by the UK government, concerned about fiscal credibility in global markets. High levels
My mother died two decades ago from Motor Neurone Disease. I was living in Derry, with primary caring responsibility for three young children. The guilt of not helping to look after her in those final months lingers with me. It was my father who provided that caring role. But it could never be adequate to
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Comparing health systems – Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Read More »
Innovation should be central to the way any organisation operates. But commitment to historic spending priorities can kill innovation. If your budgeting is essentially that what has been brought forward is then carried forward, you are killing opportunities for the organisation to change. Nowhere is this more true than in government – or, more specifically,
Zero based budgeting – how to take tough spending decisions Read More »