Member's statement: All-island Economy

Member's statement by Ms Aoife Finnegan on 10 March 2026.

MLA

Ms Aoife Finnegan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

10 March 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

All-island Economy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5436037

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Partition was never meant to operate on the basis of fairness, equality and parity of opportunity. It was an undemocratic political decision that was imposed upon this island. Citizens across Ireland are living with the consequences daily. Our all-island economy and cross-border trade have grown exponentially over the past decade. The recent Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report on assessing economic trends on the island of Ireland shows that North/South trade is continuing to go from strength to strength. That report allows us to better understand our economies and their integration. Increasingly, businesses across Ireland are working together, so it is important that decisions that are taken by the Dublin Government and the Executive keep pace with those changes. The latest trade statistics show comparable levels of trade North and South, with around £4·3 billion worth of trade travelling in each direction. Collectively, the value of North/South trade equated to £8·6 billion in 2025, which underlines the opportunity for growth and prosperity. While the Southern economy records budget surpluses, here, in the North, Westminster continues to tell us that we have received record funding. The truth is that the underfunding of our public services continues. The British Treasury's claims simply do not stand up. Wealth is created here every day by workers and businesses across the North. Large corporations operate and profit here, yet those profits are often recorded elsewhere and counted as British revenue. Similarly, the value of tax that is paid by workers here remains opaque and unclear. People here pay taxes towards things that bring no benefit to daily life in the North. Money goes on the British monarchy, royal estates, historic war debts and military spending. That money is not available to the Executive to tackle waiting lists, repair roads or build homes. Services are left underfunded, and community groups are cutting the number of staff and vital projects in our most disadvantaged areas. That is not ideology: it is reality. That system affects everyone. We can no longer pretend that it is working. Working families in nationalist areas feel it, working families in unionist areas feel it, rural communities feel it, and towns and cities feel it. We see it in overcrowded hospitals and broken infrastructure. The result of political choices being tied to the British economic system —

— has been a catastrophic failure for ordinary people here.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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