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The last nine years, beginning with the referendum vote in the UK to leave the EU, have been ones of political and (to a lesser degree) economic turmoil. This has affected British-Irish relations as well as the politics of Northern Ireland in particular, where a majority voted to remain in the EU. This has produced debates about whether Northern Ireland should remain within the EU Single Market and where border checks should happen, and has resulted in a renewed discussion on the Irish border and constitutional arrangements for the North.
This is the political context for the research programme currently underway at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University and the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre which considers at least three separate but inter-related economic questions:
This blog is concerned with the third of those questions. Whilst two separate jurisdictions exist on the island of Ireland, Dublin’s position as the ‘primate city’ within the southern jurisdiction but also on the island of Ireland, ‘supereminent, not merely in size, but in national influence’ (Jefferson, 1939) is beyond dispute.
The dichotomy of the economic and social trajectories between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland – Northern Ireland and Ireland – since partition in 1921 has been characterised by two distinct periods: the first 50 years were marked by a much stronger and more affluent North as a constituent part of the UK and an underdeveloped and relatively less economically developed independent South, reflecting the strong industrial base in Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland to have experienced the first wave of the industrial revolution of the 19th century.
However, the second 50 years of partition have seen a marked decline in the economic position of the North and a belated period of modernisation of the economy of the South combined with the entry of both to the European Economic Community in 1973. The period between 1969 and 1998 of violence and political unrest, known as “The Troubles”, in the North deterred inward investment and accelerated the decline of its traditional manufacturing base, requiring the region to be subsidised by the UK exchequer and a dramatic expansion in the size of its public sector in relation to its economy.
The South, on the other hand, experienced a belated period of economic modernisation from the 1960s onwards that was punctuated by periods of deep economic difficulties, occurring in the 1980s and again in the early 2010s. The period of rapid and unprecedented economic growth experienced in the South between 1993 and 2007, colloquially known as the “Celtic Tiger” transformed the economy and raised living standards for its population significantly, allowing it to surpass the North at the turn of the 21st century.
Our research, Identifying Pathways to Developing an Effective Regional Development Strategy on the island of Ireland, examined cross-border initiatives in place concerning energy, economic development and infrastructure provision with a focus on the latter of the three. The discussion also sought to discern the types of measures and enabling agencies required to foster greater connectivity between the two constituent parts of the island of Ireland with an understanding of the political issues and potential difficulties that may arise from such measures. The report also notes the existing Framework for Co-operation (2013) designed to facilitate cooperation between the spatial strategies of both jurisdictions and its limited impact to date.
An extensive review of pertinent literature was augmented by primary research involving a series of in-depth consultations with nine key stakeholders who work in the area of regional development and infrastructure provision.
The research acknowledging the realities of the difficulties in a post-Brexit environment of fostering cross-border institutions concerning facilitating and enhancing regional connectivity within the island of Ireland as a whole. There is also an emphasis on creating the necessary conditions, given the political issues that persist in Northern Ireland, to foster greater cooperation and coordination between various agencies responsible for infrastructure planning and economic development. The critical importance of creating sustainable poles of growth in key urban centres on the island to strengthen the economic position of the different regions is clearly identified.
The report recommends a series of bottom-up measures for various disparate groups and statutory agencies operating on a regional basis, particularly in regions with poor connectivity such as in the North-West of the island, to combine their pool of expertise and work together in concert to maximise the economic development potential of their regions with greater horizontal linkages.
The role of experts in the fields of regional planning, infrastructure and business in terms of their potential input into collaborative and coherent regional policy will be a critical aspect in relation to the potential establishment of an oversight body to administer the funding, provision and operation of cross-border regional policy initiatives.
The full report is available at https://all-islandeconomy.com/north-south-economic-analysis/.
Deiric Ó Broin is a Professor of Public Policy Practice in the School of Law and Government in Dublin City University.
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