Tuesday, December 13, 2005
NI economy still weak
As many of you know I am an Irish nationalist and I am of the opinion that Ireland ought to be reunified. I believe that unionists and nationalists will benefit more from a United Ireland and it's clear that the economic argument for Irish Unity is significant in the overall argument for reunification. In the last few weeks and months I have written quite a bit on the economic argument and examples can be found here, here, here, here, as well as here.Continuing that trend I have come across this article in Business World which details the weak state of the North's economy:
"Growth of business activity and new business picked up in the North in November but remained weak compared to the UK, the latest Ulster Bank Purchasing Managers' Index said."
The articles adds that month-on-month expansion of the 'Northern Ireland' economy remained only weak and well down on the UK average.
As well as that, "despite easing, input price inflation remained marked and above that experienced by private sector firms across the UK as a whole."
Commenting on the latest survey findings, Pat McArdle, Chief Economist, Ulster Bank, said November returns show a pick-up in activity but the overall picture is still quite weak and NI had the third lowest reading of the UK regions with employment in the private sector economy static.
One has only to look at this information and to bear in mind the comments of British Secretary of State Peter Hain who declared the North's economy unsustainable and who argued that "the island of Ireland should in future be marketed as a single entity" to realise that Mr Hain is right about the way forward.
We need not only an all-Ireland economy but an all-Ireland state for the good of all the people on this island.
Two facts:
1. NI has the lowest salary wages of any other region in the UK; in fact, the national average is £22,411 and NI is £17,366.
2. The North's cost of living is 4.9% less than the national average.
Let's change that and give the people of the North a brighter future. Only in an all-Ireland state can adequate competition with the British be achieved.
# posted by United Irelander @ 1:35 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
