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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The global economy will almost certainly not grow this year and may go into recession as a result of coronavirus. We know from the 2008/9 financial crash that the weakest economies are likely to be hurt the most. So parts of Northern Ireland could have a tough time this year. Brexit provides additional challenges for …
Subject to the t’s being crossed and the i’s being dotted, Wrightbus is to be saved. A rather ill-tempered negotiation between Jo Bamford’s company Ryse Hydrogen and the Wright family appears to have ended with smiles rather than tears. Bamford said that while the deal was not yet concluded with the administrators, terms had been …
Twenty one years on from the Good Friday Agreement it is clear that Northern Ireland does not have the settled and just peace that we expected. This was clear before the terrible killing of Lyra McKee, but it is even more clear now. That tragedy has amplified the sense in which progress has stalled or …
Whatever happens now with Brexit seems bound to make Irish reunification more likely. A bad Brexit, perhaps with controlled borders, would create economic damage sufficient to encourage voters in Northern Ireland to look south with envy, as the Republic carries on with its fundamentally sound economy. On the other hand, Theresa May’s negotiated Brexit deal …
Apparently it doesn’t much matter whether we have a functioning Executive to govern us – at least as far as the economy is concerned. Invest NI told the Belfast Telegraph last week that its ability to promote Northern Ireland is not being hindered by the absence of an Executive. “Our international proposition is based on …
Does Northern Ireland’s Executive really matter? Read More »
In June last year, the respected economist David McWilliams wrote in the Belfast Telegraph how the changing demographics of Northern Ireland create the likelihood of a united Ireland. Those from a Protestant/unionist background are now less than half the population and people from a Catholic background will probably be in the majority within a decade. …
“Money, that’s what I want.” It’s a Beatles song from 1963, though originally a Tamla Motown track. It is also probably a fair indicator of what is on the script for the DUP’s negotiations with Theresa May. Whatever else Arlene Foster and her colleagues are looking for, it is a fair bet that more finance …