Debate contribution: All-island Economy

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 9 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

9 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

All-island Economy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5453698

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. There should be nothing controversial about the principle behind the motion. Stronger North/South economic cooperation delivers practical benefits for workers, businesses and communities across the island. It makes economic sense, regardless of anyone's constitutional preference. Supply chains cross the border every day. Workers commute across it. Tourism depends on it. Businesses already operate on an all-island basis. Recognising the value of cooperation is one thing, however, while delivering it in practice is another. That is where the Executive's record must be questioned. If we look honestly at the evidence, we see that effective cross-border economic cooperation has simply not been consistently prioritised. The Departments that have the greatest capacity to drive it — Economy, Finance and Infrastructure — all sit under the same party's control. Sinn Féin holds the post of First Minister, and its Ministers are in the three Departments that I mentioned. If building the all-island economy is central to Sinn Féin's narrative, this fair question must follow: what measurable difference has been delivered? Where is the progress on infrastructure? Where is the urgency on cross-border investment? Where are the projects that people can see and feel in their daily lives? Strategies, reports and speeches are not economic policy: delivery is. The SDLP recently published its paper 'Success by Design: Preparing for a New Ireland'. It makes this important point:

"the economic future of this island is not predetermined."

Economic outcomes are shaped by choices about skills, infrastructure, innovation and governance. The truth is that the North and the South started the 1990s in broadly similar economic positions but that, over the past three decades, their trajectories have diverged sharply. The South has experienced sustained growth, higher wages and stronger productivity. Meanwhile, the North has struggled with weak productivity, weak growth, lower wages and a continued reliance on public expenditure to sustain economic activity. That divergence was not inevitable; it was the result of decisions and often the absence of decisions about investment in the foundations of growth. There has been underinvestment in infrastructure, skills and innovation, and there has been political instability that made long-term planning difficult. That is exactly why the motion matters. If we want a stronger economy on the island, cooperation must move from occasional collaboration to systemic integration. We already know that it works. The single electricity market has demonstrated how treating the island as one energy system improves efficiency and security of supply. Cross-border healthcare cooperation —.

I will always agree with bringing things on this island together to make it work better. Thank you for making that point for me. Cross-border healthcare cooperation, such as on the North West Cancer Centre, shows how shared services can improve outcomes for patients. Improved Belfast-Dublin rail connectivity has strengthened labour mobility, tourism and business links. Those examples are proof that cooperation works.

Sorry, I meant to give way to you earlier.

Thank you. As I said at the start, the Departments that are listed in the motion can make the greatest contributions. When it comes to all-island economic connectivity, those are the Departments that can deliver the greatest amount of leverage and deliverable actions. The examples that I listed are proof that cooperation works, but, too often, progress has been piecemeal and dependent on political will, rather than embedded as standard practice. Our paper sets out a series of no-regret actions that could strengthen the all-Ireland economy right now. They are practical steps such as establishing a joint all-Ireland infrastructure fund to invest in strategic cross-border projects; delivering the all-island strategic rail review; aligning skills systems to open up the all-island labour market; creating an all-island economic task force to drive delivery; and targeting investment at growth corridors such as the Dublin-Belfast corridor and the north-west region. Those are not theoretical ideas; they are practical steps that would improve productivity, strengthen regional development and raise living standards. They would deliver benefits now, regardless of constitutional outcomes. We need to recognise the strategic economic role that Northern Ireland can play in a stronger island economy. Too often, Northern Ireland is framed as a fiscal problem or burden, but that narrative misses the point entirely. The North has assets that can strengthen the all-island economy: a young population; world-class universities; growing, high-value sectors; strategic infrastructure such as Belfast port; and a strong base of SMEs that could scale more effectively in a larger, more integrated market. Better integration would expand supply chains, support regional growth and strengthen economic resilience across the island. For the SDLP, the goal of a new and united Ireland is clear, but we recognise something very important: that we also have a responsibility, today, to ensure that Northern Ireland works economically, socially and politically, because, if the North becomes an economic burden that is defined by stagnation, underinvestment and dysfunction, people in the South will be concerned. I will quickly look at some of the Member inputs. It was said that one of our papers lacked costings. I wonder why. We cannot access any of the information that most other Oppositions across these islands have and that would help us make those costings. If we are in the dark, it is because we are being left in the dark when it comes to the facts and figures. We will come up with ideas and champion those ideas as best we can.

Very quickly, because I am short of time.

HMRC takes my tax, so I will be nicer about HMRC in case it targets me. Yes. I agree that data is important. We should always have access to as much data as possible. There was reference to the fact that we did not speak about the UK economy. That should be no shock, given that the motion is about an all-island economy here in Ireland. The Alliance Party, again, took the approach of saying that this is politicking. We are in a political arena — we are politicians — guess what we are going to do. There will be an element of politics in the work that we do, because that is who we are and what we do. There was reference to the all-island energy market. That is another example of how cooperation and working together delivers benefits and good outcomes for people. We want to champion such cooperation and see more of it. That is what the motion is about: greater economic cooperation to deliver benefits for the people who live North and South. Our task today is twofold: to deepen cooperation across this island and to build an economy here that is productive, competitive and capable of contributing to shared prosperity. That means investing in skills and therefore the economy; investing in infrastructure; strengthening cross-border enterprise; and delivering the projects that will connect this island economically. The all-island economy cannot be simply an aspiration; it must become a programme of delivery. If we get that right, we will not only strengthen the economy of today but lay the foundations for the prosperous and sustainable future that this island deserves. That is why we present the motion to the House.

1,187 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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