Business

EU vote conjures up memories of 1975 common market debate

The EU referendum takes place on June 23
The EU referendum takes place on June 23 The EU referendum takes place on June 23

I KNOW many of you, given my baby-faced complexion, will be surprised to hear that I remember the 1975 ‘Common Market’ referendum. To be honest, I only really recall it because on my walks to and from Holy Child Primary School in west Belfast I used to pass a number of gable walls which had the simple message ‘NO’ daubed on.

I don’t remember being that curious about what the ‘NO’ meant but I do remember it being vaguely interesting for the very reason it wasn’t a three or four letter paramilitary acronym. Before the NO signs started going up, the only west Belfast graffiti which got any wall space outside of the paramilitary support was the omnipresent ‘Aidso + Celtic’, though that may have been a bit later. I’ve often wondered who Aidso was and what became of him.

I’m not sure if the legacy of that NO graffiti had anything to do with it but in later years, I became very interested in the European ideal. I switched subjects after my first year so that one-third of my undergraduate degree course was in European politics and when John Hume’s proposals to the Brooke/Mayhew talks in the early nineties included a European Commissioner as part of a six person executive to run Northern Ireland, I used it to introduce my MPhil degree dissertation on how much influence the European Union could have on settling ‘the Troubles’ here.

It took me 30,0000 words to say the EU couldn’t solve the Troubles (what a surprise), but the six months of research was very interesting and what I did learn was that the EU had brought a layer of democracy and local input into decision-making, particularly in the distribution of European funds, which hadn’t previously existed here.

Arguably, the consultation mechanisms forced by the European Commission onto the direct-rule ministries then have a direct legacy today in the sophisticated integration of the community and voluntary sectors in particular into policy making and funding decisions through the likes of the partnership boards and other structures. On a range of fronts and not just in pure financial terms, there can be no doubt that our region has been the largest beneficiary of the UK’s membership of the EU.

That’s why I was a bit surprised the DUP was so quick to support Brexit. It seemed to me the decision was taken with great haste, though I’ve heard no dissension from it by any members or elected representatives since. That was one of the points of discussion at the offices of Irish News columnist and my PR industry colleague, Tom Kelly, when he invited some people round last week to hear former home secretary Alan Johnson MP expound very well on the virtues of remaining within the EU. It was a very good discussion and event which was part of Tom’s launch of the Northern Ireland Stronger in Europe campaign.

The arguments for staying within the EU are very compelling, particularly here in Northern Ireland but a point I was making at the meeting and a worry for everybody who wants to stay in the EU is motivating people to actually get out and vote on the day.

From a Northern Ireland business perspective, I don’t know how you could rationally make a case against staying in the EU. I certainly haven’t seen any. Our companies exported £3.6 billion worth of goods to the EU in 2014, which was 61 per cent of total goods exported.

Since 1998, the value of Northern Ireland's exports to the EU has increased by over 50 per cent in real terms. And in the last five years, there have been 86 investment projects from the EU into Northern Ireland, creating over 2,000 jobs. That's over one-third of all foreign investment projects in that time. Being part of the EU means we have free trade deals with over 50 other countries around the world.

None of that of course even recognises our special treatment by the EU which means we’ve received billions of pounds in funding support through regional, agricultural and social development funding and the various PEACE programmes which began back in 1994. And most of that money has gone into projects and infrastructure in our hardest hit communities. Having benefitted from all of that, would we really vote to walk away?

And yet even for somebody like me who wants to remain, I have to admit there are some people, including those who wouldn’t regard themselves as being normally aligned with the DUP, who want to leave. The reasons though seem to be more emotional and driven by fear and protectiveness rather than having any real basis in fact. One of the key issues is immigration and border controls and the news on television, on the web and the printed press over these last months has not helped.

When arguments are driven by emotion, it is hard to make rational responses stick. That’s what ‘remain’ campaigners must do though and in Northern Ireland, where I suspect there is a decent majority of those eligible who will vote to stay, getting those voters out is really important too. So, there’s the challenge, we all can do our bit and certainly the business community in particular, which is already mobilised, needs to really stand up and be counted on this issue.

So, 41 years after the last referendum, maybe we’ll see some graffiti emerging or its modern day web equivalent, saying ‘REMAIN’. Not very catchy I know but then often the most compelling arguments aren’t, it doesn’t make them any less right though. I say we remain.

:: Paul McErlean (paul@mcepublicrelations.com) is managing director of MCE Public Relations Ltd

:: Next week: Claire Aiken