THE former head of the International Fund for Ireland has said global businesses could reap benefits after Brexit by establishing facilities close to the border.
Willie McCarter, whose family firm once straddled the divide between north and south, said that by establishing bases in Northern Ireland and the Republic businesses would be able to efficiently sell goods to the UK and the EU.
Mr McCarter’s company established seven plants in County Donegal and two in Derry, creating a 3,000-strong workforce in the 1980s following a deal with US leisurewear firm Fruit of the Loom.
He said establishing cross-border bases would allow companies to overcome customs difficulties.
"It could well be that a container originating in Derry would cross into the EU at Bridgend (in Donegal) a few miles away (then) would turn round and cross the UK under a sealed system and enter mainland Europe at say Rotterdam without further customs clearance," he said.
With the common travel area between the north and the Republic to continue after Brexit, Mr McCarter said a dual-location approach would allow companies to "hedge" against Brexit.
"It also means that companies, because of close proximity to the border, would have the ability to deploy their workforces in both Northern Ireland and the Republic as necessary," he said.
He said US executives at Fruit of the Loom were impressed by the efficient way his firm operated such a large-scale operation in a border area.
"They were very taken with the relative low cost of housing, the availability of good education and social facilities on both sides of the border as well as the ease of communication to Europe and North America," he said.
