Minister's speech at the Newry and Dundalk Chambers 6 March 2024

Building a Sustainable All-Ireland Economy.

Economy Minister Conor Murphy

Note: this publication may not reflect verbatim delivery by Minister Murphy.

Good morning everyone and thank you to the Newry and Dundalk Chambers for inviting me to this discussion on the all-Ireland economy.

It is a conversation that has its modern roots in the early 1990s.

Civic and business leaders such as Sir George Quigley argued that regardless of how Ireland was politically governed, it made sense for such a small island to operate as a single economic unit.

These people had no political or ideological agenda.

They were just looking at the situation from a business perspective.

As a result of the EU single market and the cross-border institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement, all-Ireland trade subsequently flourished.

This benefited both parts of the island.

However with the north tied to Britain’s macro-economic problems of low productivity and low growth, economic performance was stronger in the south.

The decision of the British Government to leave the EU posed a major threat to prosperity in the north, and to the seamless border on the island.

Thankfully the Windsor Framework protects the all-Ireland economy and cross-border trade is surging.

Now that there is a degree of political certainty on our trading arrangements it is time to fully grasp the opportunities.

The themes of this conference - Skills, Support for Businesses, Net Zero, and Productivity – cover many of the ways in which the potential of the all-Ireland economy can be better realised. They also cover some of the key challenges. 

On skills I want to acknowledge Louth Meath Education and Training Board and Southern Regional College who are together developing the first cross-border apprenticeship in Robotics and Automation. 

In order to further increase labour mobility North and South it is necessary to address the tax issues that make it difficult for people to live on one side of the border and work on the other side.

I know that Shared Island is funding research on this important matter and I look forward to seeing that work published and acted upon.

In terms of business support there is a discussion on Go Succeed, the new programme in the north for starts ups and small businesses that want to scale up.

This programme is a major improvement on what has went before.

However funding runs out in March 2025 and in developing a successor programme I am keen to learn lessons from the Local Enterprise Offices in the south.

I spoke yesterday at the Intertrade Ireland Venture Capital conference.

This brought together businesses seeking investment with investors from right across the island.

At a time when many banks are not retreating from their traditional provision of business lending, it is critical to expand the Venture Capital market right across the island.

The announcement of €30m euro, for an Enterprise Fund, also funded under Shared Island, will be used to develop all-Ireland clusters.

This type of cluster development is key to building more resilient industries and increasing productivity.

In terms of the net zero agenda, this must be pursued on an all-Ireland basis.

And we should be ambitious.

Ireland as a whole should set a mission to become self-sufficient in, and even an exporter of affordable renewable energy.

We have the resources including wind, biomethane and geothermal to do this.

Pursuing a circular economy will require all-Ireland collaboration to increase resource efficiency, foster innovation through clusters and networks, reduce waste, stimulate secondary material markets, and strengthen supply chains. 

The final discussion of today’s conference is on productivity.

There is a significant productivity gap between the north and the south.

Some of the issues already discussed – a more seamless labour market, better support for start-ups, and the development of all-Ireland clusters – will help address this gap.

I have also directed Invest NI to focus its efforts on increasing productivity.

In this border area it will be important to accelerate the development of the Belfast-Dublin corridor so that the area operates as a seamless highly productive economic unit.

So I want to commend the organisers of this event for creating such an important and relevant set of themes.

Unfortunately I can’t stay for the conference – I have another engagement to rush to – but I will read a report of your discussions.

Because there is no doubt, particularly in border areas, that organising and collaborating on an all-Ireland basis is the basis of prosperity.

Enjoy the rest of the conference. 

Thank you/ Go raibh maith agat.

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