Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 1 June 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
Business Opportunities and Differences: Engagement with Irish SME Association
Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source
Yes. My question is not totally dissimilar from Senator Conway-Walsh's in that I want to look to the recent peace and prosperity report from IBEC. It described Ireland as a natural economic zone. It said three developments helped the growth of the all-Ireland economy: the EU Single Market, the peace process, obviously, and the removal of Border checkpoints. It called for a more joined up North-South policy framework to support businesses to grow across the whole of Ireland. Obviously, that policy is supported by the all-Ireland bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement. Mr. McDonnell referred to the huge goodwill here towards deepening trade relationships with the North and stated that Ireland, North and South, has a bright future ahead. Could he expand on how ISME would see, organisationally speaking, the construction of that going forward, that is, how that organisational construct could be developed in the time ahead?
No comments