Professor Edgar Morgenroth:

In the current situation, the dual market access is an advantage that Northern Ireland has, Professor FitzGerald mentioned this earlier, that is a big asset to it. It is somewhat surprising that some people, including some politicians in Northern Ireland, do not seem to share that view. It is a significant benefit to Northern Ireland on which it can and should capitalise and from which it should benefit. That absolutely is the case. In a united Ireland context, there might not be the dual market access. In fact, I think there probably will not be. There will be other benefits and then the question is whether the additional FDI Northern Ireland gets is simply displacing what might currently go into some other part of Ireland. Within Northern Ireland, the chances are that Belfast in particular might benefit. Some of the more rural parts, we have seen this in the Republic of Ireland, do not seem to do as well in attracting FDI.