Europe and Northern Ireland's Future: Negotiating Brexit's Unique Case by Mary Murphy

Author:Mary Murphy [Murphy, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Business & Finance, History
ISBN: 9781788211123
Google: j0X0wQEACAAJ
Publisher: Agenda Publishing
Published: 2018-04-26T04:00:00+00:00

Brexit and inequality in Northern Ireland

The severity of the impact of Brexit for the Northern Ireland economy will depend on what type of trade relationship the UK will have with the EU after it leaves the Union. However, regardless of what type of Brexit deal is reached, the various analyses suggest that leaving the EU will entail pronounced economic consequences for Northern Ireland. The gravity of the Brexit effect is also linked to the wider economic context. Northern Ireland’s economy suffers from some specific difficulties, including persistent structural problems and the legacy of the conflict. The achievement of the peace process and the signing of a peace settlement in the 1990s were not just politically and constitutionally significant, they were also interpreted as important moments in Northern Ireland’s economic rejuvenation. Political leaders linked peace in Northern Ireland to increased opportunities for economic advancement. The hope was that the absence of conflict would remove structural barriers to economic growth that would in turn further reinforce political progress. The so-called “peace dividend” was predicated on Northern Ireland’s increased ability to attract inward investment and to create jobs (O’hearn 2008: 102). The promise of economic revival, however, rang hollow. Despite some increase in FDI, the influx of investment was not extensive, and crucially nor was it evenly distributed. Coulter (2014) identifies a post-conflict Northern Ireland economy that was characterized by an inflated public sector, lower than average wages in the private sector, a high worklessness rate, a heavy reliance on welfare and an increasing wealth differential. By methodically identifying and detailing the performance of the manufacturing and services sectors in Northern Ireland ten years after the ceasefires, O’hearn (2008) demonstrates the extent to which the peace dividend has been largely illusory. To the extent that it is discernible, the peace dividend has accrued to the wealthier sections of Northern Ireland society. Those most affected by the conflict have not been beneficiaries of economic growth. Unemployment levels in Northern Ireland’s most disadvantaged wards remain persistently high: “the areas now worst affected by poverty were those worst hit by violence during the period of the Troubles” (Campbell et al. 2016: 7; see also O’hearn 2008: 107). Even though “horizontal inequalities” between Catholics and Protestants have been addressed, marginalized communities, from both the Catholic/nationalist and the Protestant/loyalist tradition, remain socio-economically marginalized long after the violence has halted. Their situation worsened further with the onset of the global financial crisis from 2008. Northern Ireland’s construction industry – one of the few sectors to experience growth after 1994 – was plunged into recession, and the imposition of austerity in the form of public spending and welfare cuts exacerbated the position of the most marginalized. Inequality across the UK worsened during this period. Between 2008 and 2013, the UK’s poorest regions were subject to the worst effects of the crisis and Northern Ireland fell squarely into this category. The region’s private sector shrank by almost 1.5 per cent on an annual basis during this period (Springford 2015: 2). Figure 3.

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