Opinion

Patrick Murphy: London, Dublin and Berlin don't care, so why aren't MLAs making the case for north's economy?

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy is an Irish News columnist and former director of Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education.

Brexit has already made the north a special economic zone. Stormont MLAs should be asking Dublin, London and Brussels to formalise it
Brexit has already made the north a special economic zone. Stormont MLAs should be asking Dublin, London and Brussels to formalise it Brexit has already made the north a special economic zone. Stormont MLAs should be asking Dublin, London and Brussels to formalise it

IT is tempting to highlight the irony of MLAs in a Stormont suspended for nearly three years commenting on Westminster's suspension for seven parliamentary days, but it is time for a more studied approach to a possible no-deal Brexit.

MLAs from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and the Greens recently wrote to European Council President, Donald Tusk.

They told him that if the EU and the UK do not reach agreement on Brexit, he should defend the backstop, to allow all-Ireland free trade.

There was an alternative letter which they could have written, not just to Mr Tusk, but to the British and Irish prime ministers.

They might also have composed it so that the UUP and the DUP (if they have any concern for those who elected them) could have signed it.

It would go something like this:

Dear Donald Tusk, Leo Varadkar and Boris Johnson,

Although some of us support Brexit and others oppose it, as MLAs we all agree that the economy here should not suffer because of Brexit.

To defend against possible economic chaos, we ask that following Brexit, all goods and services originating in the north should move freely to the south of Ireland and to Britain, without tariffs or customs checks. Goods and services originating in Britain and the south should be allowed to move freely into the north.

In that way our manufacturing, services and agri-food sectors would not face either a land or sea barrier to their main destinations.

We recognise that this would require declaring the north a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), an arrangement whereby a designated area has different trade laws from the rest of the country.

This is not a new concept in Ireland. The world's first modern SEZ was Shannon Airport, established in 1959, offering tax concessions to inward investment.

It currently employs about 7,000 people in 100 international companies and it inspired the creation of dozens of similar zones in China, following a 2005 visit to Shannon by the Chinese premier. They helped to create China's current superpower status.

China has created several types of special economic zones. They include those specialising in: free trade; foreign direct investment and factories; assembly and finishing; technology transfer and research and development; trade and streamlined shipping; export processing and bonded warehouses and international trade and finance.

Although the north's special status could initially be a free-trade zone for goods to and from Britain and the south, it could develop into a special zone on some (or all) of the Chinese models.

This would allow us to address the issue of goods and services from beyond Britain and Ireland.

For example, we could specialise in value-added processing, whereby products could come from EU directly into north.

Once here they could be modified, processed or adapted in some way and then sent directly to Britain, or even countries in the EU, on a tariff-free basis.

Equally goods coming here from Britain could be value-added and exported tariff-free to the EU.

So, for example, beef could be processed into food products or electronic parts could be assembled into finished goods.

Some will say this is a ridiculous idea. Tell that to the Chinese.

In any case, is it any more ridiculous than a hard border, dividing fields, farms, houses and villages or any more ridiculous than a no-deal Brexit, unhindered by a suspended parliament?

A Special Economic Zone is not without its challenges, but if we are to abandon political stalemate by emphasising economic development, it represents a way forward.

It also offers a new model for retaining some of the taxation for investment here in education, health and infrastructure.

Brexit has made the north a special economic zone. All we ask is that you now formalise it.

Yours faithfully,

90 Stormont MLAs.

That letter, you say, is total fantasy. You have a point, but it is no more fantasy than believing that London, Berlin or Dublin cares one bit for the north. It is time we started caring for ourselves.