Debate contribution: Democratic Consent Resolution

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 10 December 2024.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

10 December 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Democratic Consent Resolution

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4716421

Read the official Assembly record

Text

My goodness, today really has triggered me. It is like rolling back the years and arguing over spilt milk. The Brexit band has reformed and is playing many of the old tunes, and, now, I will rehash some of my old tunes as well.

The decision to leave the EU was one of the reasons why I, like many others in the Chamber, entered politics. As former vice chair of the Remain campaign in Northern Ireland, I saw how little our issues featured in the UK's decision. I, with others, worked really hard with people from all corners of our society to make the case for remaining a part of Europe. The Remain campaign won that argument in our region, but, as we all know, we were still dragged out against our will. Brexit was a bad idea then, and it is a bad idea now. It was not just a bad idea; it was the most profound act of economic and social self-sabotage that any Government have ever undertaken.

Looking purely at the economic impact, we know that the Office for Budget Responsibility has stated that both exports and imports will be around 15% lower than if the UK had remained in the EU and that new trade deals with non-EU countries will not have a material impact. In the North, thanks to the protocol, we have been shielded from some of Brexit's worst effects, although not all of them. We now have something that we can work with, however, and it is a unique opportunity and a unique position. The uniqueness of having unfettered and flexible access to both markets on the island of Ireland is an opportunity that we cannot afford to pass up, so we must now grasp it with both hands. We all know that that is the mood of business as well. For example, research carried out by the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) found that 87% of its members viewed dual market access as the biggest opportunity for growth over the next decade. Some Members across the way said that there had not been one investment as a result of dual market access. My colleague Matthew O'Toole and I spoke to the chief executive of Invest NI, and he indicated a few days back that that was because there had been no opportunity to promote and sell dual access, which Invest NI is now doing across the world on its trade missions. There will be a trail here, so we will hopefully maximise that opportunity in the not-so-distant future. InterTradeIreland has seen an increase of £7 billion in cross-border trade since 2015. Of course we can appreciate the concerns of Members on the opposite side of the House about east-west trade, and a smoothing of processes would be welcome. Let us work together on finding common ground while exploiting the opportunity that we have in our hands. Northern Ireland now has an opportunity to be a bridge between two major markets, and that opens the door to major possibilities that we all must leverage. Until now, the focus has been on the UK's internal market. Now that we have dealt with many of those concerns, let us stop overlooking the prospects that we have as a result of our new arrangements. Last week, the SDLP launched our proposals on our European future. They included our call for an independent review to be initiated to explore how centres of strategic economic importance can capitalise on the opportunities resulting from Northern Ireland's unique position. The review should evaluate the costs and benefits of establishing a new office in Northern Ireland for the European Commission. I gently suggest to my colleagues that, if we are looking for regional balance, that office could be in Derry. Why should we foster cooperation and trust between Northern Ireland and the EU institutions? Doing so could play a crucial role in maximising dual market access and provide us with advice on trade, investment and regulation compliance. It could build on our ability to leverage the unique position in which we now find ourselves and engage meaningfully with Europe. Such new mechanisms would have real-world consequences and present opportunities for high-value manufacturing and supply chains, offering specific advantages to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agri-food, precision engineering and many more. We could explore the role of the integration of regulations in key sectors by securing closer alignment with European agencies, creating initiatives to strengthen Northern Ireland and EU supply chains and exploiting the potential of dual market incentives such as tax credits. Those benefits would mean that a place such as Derry, which sits as the urban capital of a cross-border region, is uniquely positioned to take advantage of such opportunities and reverse decades of economic neglect.

Yes.

798 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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