The Economic Problems

It is widely recognized that the Irish economy, particularly in the northern six counties and the border region, suffers from a range of economic and social problems. The range and depth of these problems can be seen by a number of indicators:

Local Economic Development

The specific problems facing local areas differ significantly and require quite different solutions and approaches. This fits with Sinn Fein's belief in a bottom-up approach to economic and social development, rather than the undemocratic top-down approaches pursued to date. The areas highlighted here are the inner-city areas of Belfast and Derry; rural areas; and the border region.

Inner-City Areas: North and West Belfast and Derry

Inner-city areas share similar problems in terms of economic and social underdevelopment and disadvantage. Unemployment rates are generally 30% if not higher, household incomes are very low (over a third in West Belfast, for example, have an annual income less than £4,000 ($6,400), long-term illness is rife, housing is overcrowded and only a small proportion of households have access to a car.

Sinn Fein has put together a range of proposals for these areas that would start to regenerated the local economies and provide much-needed jobs with priority status being given to areas of greatest need. These include innovative projects such as a jobs task force, Irish language economic development, job creation in the social economy, community-led economic development and enterprise, and the preparation of areas and communities for inward investment.

The overall incidence of urban deprivation is greatest in nationalist areas. However, there are a number of unionist inner-city areas in the Six Counties that suffer many of the same economic and social problems as nationalist communities-- endemic unemployment, a severe lack of employment opportunities and deep levels of deprivation and poverty. Urgent attention and substantial resources needs to be directed towards these areas and communities if their problems are to be alleviated. The promotion and development of cross-community projects would be particularly beneficial in this respect where they are geographically appropriate.

Rural Areas

Rural areas throughout Ireland have a long history of political and economic marginalisation, reflected in unemployment, underemployment, low incomes, high emigration (both to urban areas within Ireland and places outside), seasonal work and poor access to health and social services. In nationalist areas there is a high dependence on small-scale agriculture on poor land, low farm incomes and an exodus from the land.

Sinn Fein believes that a number of policies should be pursued including: An integrated strategy for rural development; agricultural diversification; improved transport infrastructure; sustainable tourism; and the development of a rural investment bank.

The Border Region

As a result of partition, the border region in Ireland is stuck between two jurisdictions and all the economic, political and social distortions that this creates. Importantly, communities along the border have to live with the crippling impact of militarisation on economic life--the high incidence of British army military fortifications and numerous border road closures.

Sinn Fein has proposed a number of initiatives to resolve the specific problems of the border areas including the development of industry in food processing, tourism and information technology and the creation of a Border Development Commission. The latter body would help to reverse the peripheralisation of the region and build on and give strategic direction to the range of cross-border economic and social initiatives that are already taking place.

Institutional Reform

Fundamental and sweeping institutional change is required to the way in which economic policy is implemented in Ireland. If this does not occur then the kind of economic and social development that we aspire to will simply not take place.

A ``Peace Dividend'' for all

Peace, Economic Development and a New Ireland

The economic, political, social, environmental and cultural aspects of economic development in Ireland are inextricably linked and must be viewed as mutually reinforcing if genuine benefits for all the people of Ireland are to be realised.

Sinn Fein's ultimate objective is to build a new, prosperous and dynamic 32-County Ireland that takes us away from partition, division, domination, discrimination, disadvantage, economic failure and injustice. These are the failed ways of the past. This new Ireland will be based on:

• Sustainable social and economic development;

• Genuine democracy, participation and equality at all levels of the economy and society;

• Justice for all, irrespective of religion, political opinion, gender, sexuality, disability, age or ethnic origin;

• Lasting and meaningful peace;

• Unity of purpose and action.

BUILDING THE ECONOMY
BUILDING THE PEACE

Sinn Fein views the promotion of economic and social development in Ireland as a key and integral part of the peace process. In this context, Sinn Fein welcomes the initiative by President Clinton to hold a conference on trade and investment in Ireland and the opportunities it raises for the US government and private industry to make a real contribution to the regeneration of the Irish economy, particularly the six counties in the north of Ireland and the border region. It is clear that economic development underpins the peace process and can help to consolidate agreement on political structures in Ireland. By furthering development and tackling the deep-rooted economic problems of these areas, the US government and industry can help in a significant way to cement a just and lasting peace in Ireland.

Transforming the Irish Economy: Sinn Fein's Economic Objectives

Sinn Fein's overall objectives for economic policy in Ireland are:

• to provide sustainable and dignified livelihoods for all its citizens;

• to develop economic resources, human and material to their fullest; and

• to create an economic base which reflects the social and cultural values of all the Irish people and which fulfills their material needs and aspirations.

In essence, Sinn Fein's vision is of a society that grants economic justice to all its people. Everyone, irrespective of their background, should be able to gain meaningful, well-paid, long-term employment in jobs that provide genuine security and fair conditions. Everyone should have a meaningful role to play in the economy, particularly at the local level.

These objectives will only be achieved by eliminating unemployment and poverty, developing more fully the industrial base and generating higher levels of income and wealth for the benefit of all the people in Ireland. In this context, Sinn Fein attaches particular importance to the generation of sustainable growth; the need for mutually reinforcing private and public sector activity in the economy; the provision of education and training for all the workforce; the need for extensive workplace participation and democracy; the creation of genuine equality of opportunity for all; and the development of environmentally friendly economic activity.

Sinn Fein's overall strategic approach to the economy encompasses:

The Economic Problem

It is widely recognised that the Irish economy, particularly in the northern six counties and the border region, suffers from a range of economic and social problems. The range and depth of these problems can be seen by a number of indicators:

• Unemployment in the six counties officially stands at just over 90,000, over 12 percent of the workforce. It is commonly accepted, however, that because of the ways in which the figures are massaged by the British government that the official count of unemployment understates the true level by as much as 45,000---this means that around one in five people in the six counties are actually without work. In the border counties the figure is higher still. In the twenty-six counties the live register figure stands at 275,000, the second highest rate in the EU, with the true figure at almost 300,000. Across the island over 430,000 people are unemployed.

• Not only is the overall level of unemployment high in the six counties, but the number who have been without work for over a year accounts for 50 percent of the unemployed (45 percent in the twenty-six counties) while almost one in five have been out of work for more than five years.

• Unemployment among Catholic men is around two and a half times higher than amongst Protestant men in the six counties. That this has continued to be the case for over twenty years highlights the ineffectiveness of British anti-discrimination measures and legislation.

• The continuing haemorrhage of the population has been endemic, with an average of around 7,000 people emigrating each year from the six counties over the past two decades. Again, in the border counties the loss of population, especially those of working age, has been even higher. In the twenty-six counties of official figures show that during the 1980s over 250,000 emigrated, 49,000 in 1989 alone. Emigration from rural areas is particularly high at around 5,000 each year during the 1990s.

• The incidence of poverty in the six counties and the border areas is severe. One-third of all households have weekly incomes below £125 ($200) with 10 percent of all weekly income coming from social security. The proposition of people living below the `poverty line' is higher than in Britain, as is the degree of income inequality between the most highly paid and the lowest paid. Over 8~0,000 people in the twenty-six counties are in receipt of social welfare payments with a further 600,000 dependents relying on these payments. This means that at around 40 percent of the Irish population exists on subsistence incomes and are effectively living in poverty.

• Having been at the centre of the industrial world at the time of partition, less than one in five of the workforce in the six counties is now employed in manufacturing industry. Not only is the industrial base small, but that which remains is lacking in competitiveness and concentrated in declining sectors. Productivity is low (around 80 percent of that in Britain--itself a poor performer in world terms) and industry is heavily dependent on high levels of public subsidy (around one-third of all new investment costs by industry).

• The underlying weakness of the six counties economy is highlighted by the size of the subvention from the British taxpayer that is required to keep it running. The difference between what is spent by the British government in the six counties and what is raised in taxation and other public revenue currently stands at around £4 billion, an extraordinary one-third of total GDP in the north. A substantial proportion of the subvention directly reflects the militarised and unproductive nature of the economy with huge sums spent each year on the RUC, the British army etc. In other words, the six county economy is kept artificially afloat by a huge annual inflow of public money that masks an economic situation of fundamental unsustainability.

The reasons for such poor economic performance over a sustained period of time are, of course, complex. From Sinn Fein's point of view, it is necessary to look at the political and economic history of Ireland and, in particular, the colonial and oppressive nature of British rule, to explain such deep economic underdevelopment. While it was in the interests of Britain to develop the industrial base in the north of Ireland (centred in the main quite narrowly around Belfast) in the nineteenth century with shipbuilding, textiles and heavy engineering, and at the expense of the rest of Ireland, this did not continue after partition in 1921. The economic history of the six counties has never been anything but one of failure and underdevelopment.

Partition itself was an important debilitating factor in the way it artificially divided the Irish economy, compounding a state of underdevelopment in what was already an economy lacking coherence and integration. This effect was, of course, felt particularly badly in the border counties--a situation that continues to this day. On top of this was added the openly sectarian nature of the six county state itself that systematically discriminated against and disadvantaged the nationalist population. More recently in the last twenty-five years, political and military resistance to British rule and oppression has debilitated the economy to a significant effect. In this historical context. It is difficult to imagine an economic situation less conducive to economic and social development. The political and economic legacy of colonialism, partition, systematic discrimination and political and military conflict has still to be overcome. Yet, if economic and social development is to occur then it will only be achieved if that legacy is tackled.

Area Profiles

In order to get a full understanding of the depth of the economic and social problems in the six counties and the border region, it is necessary to focus in on specific nationalist areas. This is because the nature of the problems facing these areas differ significantly and therefore require quite different solutions and approaches.

The specific problems of nationalist areas can be usefully grouped together into the inner city areas of Belfast and Derry rural areas, particularly those west of the river Bann; and the border region stretching from Derry and Donegal to Newry and Dundalk. It is Sinn Fein's view that it is community groups and activists working on the ground in these areas that best know the problems and our ideas for regeneration draw on some of their proposals. In this report Sinn Fein believes in a bottom-up approach to economic and social development, rather than the undemocratic top-down approaches pursued by the British and Dublin governments.

Inner City Area--North and West Belfast and Derry

Inner city areas in the six counties share similar problems in terms of economic and special underdevelopment and disadvantage. In west Belfast, for example, an area comprising around 100,000 people, there is an unemployment rate of 30 per cent with less than 40 percent of the population aged 16 and over actually in employment (in some electoral wards the proportion with jobs is as low as 25 percent). The area needs almost 4,000 jobs just to bring its jobless rate down to the city average which itself is high by any standards. In some electoral wards over a third of the households have an annual income of less than £4,000 ($6,400), while only one in twenty households have an income of £15,000 ($24,000) or more. In terms of social and other indicators, west Belfast has the highest infant mortality rate in the six counties (11.9 per thousand), one in seven of the population suffer from long-term illness, almost 60 percent live in rented housing (mainly publicly owned) and two-thirds of households do not own a car.

The extent of economic underdevelopment and deprivation in the area is to a large extent the consequence of government policy that has systematically discriminated against nationalist communities. This can be seen from the relative absence of new investment from outside and abroad; political vetting by government to prevent job creation projects, such as in the Conway Mill educational and industrial complex; and the occupation by the British army of the 13 acre Whiterock industrial estate. The British government has continually refused to deal directly with elected Sinn Fein representatives on these matters. Derry city suffers from similar economic and social problems both in terms of level and intensity, with unemployment rates of over 40 percent in the nationalist areas of Brandywell, Creggan, St. Peter's and Shantallow. Other indicators of material deprivation are also experienced in these local areas in Derry seen in overcrowded housing, lack of access to cars and low levels of owner occupation. These factors are mutually reinforcing leading to low levels of incomes, little access to savings or credit, poor quality housing and a high incidence of illness.

In consultation with community groups in these inner city areas, Sinn Fein has put together a range of proposals that would start to regenerate the local economies and provide much needed jobs. In the period since the declaration of the IRA ceasefire, there has been a huge upsurge in creativity, imagination and energy in nationalist communities showing that they are equal to the mammoth economic and social task that confronts them.

In west Belfast, covering areas such as Divis, the Falls, Twinbrook, Ballymurphy, Andersonstown and Poleglass, north Belfast, including Ardoyne and New Lodge, and in Derry city, in particular Shantallow, Brandywell and Creggan, a host of proposals have been put forward that could form the basis of effective local economic strategies.

• There should be a jobs task force to devise and implement local economic strategies and that is also responsible for the disbursement of `peace dividend' funds;

• Local labour clauses should be introduced in all major public and private investment projects to ensure that residents in the area benefits;

• The proposed university campus in Springvale should be viewed as a project of great potential if meaningful partnerships and benefits can be forged with and for local communities;

• Irish language economic development offers great potential and must be adequately resourced and built upon;

• Training for real jobs, rather than the cheap and low paid labour schemes that currently operate, must be an integral part of a development strategy;

• There should be a new emphasis on creating jobs in the social economy such as education and environmental conservation;

• Community-led economic development and enterprise needs to be promoted in such sectors as cultural tourism;

• The British government's offensive against the area's major employers such as Belfast City Council and the Royal Victoria Hospital needs to be stopped.

• International recognition of north Belfast as a deprived area so that it can be allowed to offer an enhanced investment package;

• The creation of a north Belfast development agency to work in conjunction with potential investors;

• The idea of getting potential investors to commit resources into the area for training and R&D prior to the actual investments so that the ground for effective development is firmly prepared.

Unionist Inner City Areas

Sinn Fein recognises that while the overall incidence of deprivation is greatest in nationalist areas, there are a number of unionist inner city areas in the six counties that suffer many of the same economic and social problems as nationalist communities. Unionist working class communities have long endured endemic unemployment, a severe lack of employment opportunities and deep levels of deprivation and poverty. Urgent attention and substantial resources need to be directed towards these areas and communities if their problems are to be alleviated. The promotion and development of cross-community projects would be particularly beneficial in this respect where they are geographically appropriate.

Rural Areas

Rural areas throughout Ireland have a long history of political and economic marginalisation with rural nationalist communities in the six counties disenfranchised from the state. In contrast to inner city economies, rural areas have suffered quite different, though just as debilitating, types of problems. While unemployment is rife, there is also substantial underemployment, low incomes, high emigration (both to urban areas within Ireland and places outside), seasonal work and poor access to health and social services. In nationalist rural areas, such as Counties Tyrone, Fermanagh and Derry, there has been a high dependence on small scale agriculture on poor land. This has been a direct consequence of unionist domination and has led to rural underdevelopment, especially in the area west of the river Bann. Much agricultural policy administered by the European Union has been to the benefit of large unionist farmers on good land who can exploit economies of scale and earn high incomes. This has been at the expense of small agricultural holdings that tend to predominate in nationalist rural areas, with the result being low farm incomes and a mass exodus from the land and from the area through emigration. Much of the decline and economic marginalisation of rural areas in the six counties has been mirrored in the southern and western border counties.

As in the inner city, Sinn Fein has consulted with nationalist rural communities and has brought forward a number of policy ideas as to how these issues can start to be resolved. In general, the objective for rural areas should be a healthy and diverse economic and social environment where quality of life is enhanced by quality of opportunity. Sinn Fein believes:

• An integrated strategy for rural development is required in terms of partnerships between government, development agencies, private business and, in particular, local communities so that full participation and accountability takes place;

• Agricultural diversification into small industry and processing of value-added quality foods targeted at niche markets needs to take place--this will help to ensure that farming continues to play an important part in the rural economies;

• Improved transport infrastructure to increase access to rural areas;

• Sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism should be developed that meets the needs and wishes of local communities.;

• The development of a rural investment bank offering low-interest loans and technical advice to small farmers and local areas starting community enterprises.

The Border Region

The border region in Ireland experiences many of the same problems as rural areas, but has the added disadvantage of being between two jurisdictions and all the economic, political and social distortions that this creates. The border region is of course a direct result of partition and has therefore long suffered deep economic and social problems. It lacks good access to markets and large centres of population; it has few large towns that could act as a focus for development; it suffers from low income levels; high emigration is rife; and it has poor land and infrastructure. Importantly, communities along the border have to live with the crippling impact of militarisation on economic life--the high incidence of British army military fortifications and numerous border road closures.

The border region is a diverse area encompassing relatively populated towns such as Derry, Newry and Dundalk together with lowly populated areas such as Donegal, Leitrim, Fermanagh and Cavan. However, a number of characteristics have been identified for the region. These include a combination of population increase and employment decrease; a relatively high proportion of dependents (those aged under 15 and over 64); relatively high levels of overall and long-term unemployment and comparatively high numbers of people employed in agriculture and low numbers in services.

A specific problem associated with developing effective strategies for the border region is that while Sinn Fein wholly supports moves for increased economic integration in Ireland, there is the problem that the border region could be bypassed and therefore not benefit from all-Ireland economic activity. This problem is compounded by the highly centralised nature of the state in the six and twenty-six counties and the concomitant weakness of local government. In this context, it makes it very difficult for local communities to propose and implement effective programmes of a cross-border nature. This is seen, in particular, by the operation of the European Union's INTERREG initiative to promote cross-border economic initiatives and combat the negative consequences of borders. This initiative has been implemented almost wholly through a top-down approach by the British and Dublin governments, rather than through the wide range of groups working on the ground.

Sinn Fein, together with voluntary and community organisations, has put forward a number of proposals to regenerate the border area. In the Monaghan, Tyrone and Armagh area, for example, a number of initiatives have got off the ground looking at the real potential that exists for industrial development, in particular food processing, tourism and tourism related activity and the development and application if information technology.

One important proposal that has been put forward to attempt to get over some of these problems in the border region is the creation of a Border Development Commission. This would help to emphasise the distinctive characteristics of the region; reverse its peripheralisation; create democratic participation in the development of the region; and build on and give strategic direction to the range of cross-border economic and social initiatives that are already taking place. While Sinn Fein's objective remains, of course, the elimination of the border and the creation of a thirty-two county Ireland, it is clear that in the transitional period, and even for some time after, that such a body could play a significant role in developing the economy of the region.

The Need for Institutional Reform

A major component of Sinn Fein's approach to economic regeneration is the need for fundamental and sweeping institutional change to the way in which economic policy is implemented in the six counties and across the island. If this does not occur then the kind of economic and social development that we aspire to will simply not take place. A number of important issues can be highlighted.

• There is a need for full democratisation and opening up to genuine accountability of the development agencies such as the Industrial Development Board that develops larger industry, especially inward investment; the Local Enterprise Development Unit that assists small business; the Industrial Research and Technology Unit that promotes R&D and technological development within industry; the Training and Employment Agency that promotes training and skill development among the workforce; the Northern Ireland Tourist Board; and the International Fund for Ireland that disburses aid from overseas, in particular the US, to areas of economic and social deprivation. The Department of Economic Development that oversees economic policy and the development agencies in the six counties also needs to made truly accountable. The need for democratisation also applies to development agencies in the twenty-six counties such as the IDA, Forbairt and Forfa which presently operate without any democratic input and the minimum of public accountability.

• A more coordinated and integrated approach to the development of indigenous industry and the attraction of foreign investment on all-Ireland basis is required to avoid the wasteful duplication, competition and bidding up of incentives that currently operate.

• Tackling the institutional nature of these British government bodies means unprecedented change to the way in which economic policy is formulated and carried out in the six counties. Communities need to feel that they have a say in the formulation of policy, know what policy is trying to achieve and have an understanding of how effective policy actually is. In other words, there needs to be full and accountable control of British government bodies if the legacy of mistrust and negligence by and of the nationalist community is to be overcome. Past experience proves that the British government and its development agencies have shown no commitment to tackling economic and social problems in nationalist areas in a coherent and effective manner. One way of resolving this would be to designate nationalist districts as areas of highest priority for inward investment as long as the local communities had significant control over strategies being followed both by government and industry.

• Extending the arguments above, local communities and the voluntary sector need to be given genuine inclusion at every level in the decision making process that takes place around economic policy. This would include effective involvement of communities and nationalists, in particular in the formulation of policy and the allocation of public funds to meet specified and agreed economic and social needs. To enable this, new institutional arrangements will need to be developed that allow true participation by nationalists. If those communities most affected by the situation in the six counties and the border region are not part of economic policy making in the future, then the real economic and social problems are unlikely to be tackled and solutions found.

• A key aspect of the way in which economic and social policy has been implemented in the past by the British government and its various development agencies is the systematic nature of economic discrimination that has taken place against the nationalist community. This has been seen in terms of discrimination against Catholics and nationalists in employment and also in the allocation of public funding and investment projects away from nationalist areas. Fundamental and extensive reform is therefore required to fair employment legislation if discrimination against and disadvantage among Catholics and nationalists are to be stopped. Genuine affirmative action, including a stop to the political vetting by the British government of community and voluntary groups, must be seen as an integral part of overall economic and industrial development strategy, rather than an aspect of policy that can operate in some form of legislative vacuum.

Investing in Peace and Democracy

• the development of indigenous Irish manufacturing industry;

• the promotion of inward investment that links in a positive way with indigenous Irish industry, contributes and remains accountable to the local communities that it is located in and meets the needs of the wider economy;

• a commitment to education and training for all people and at all stages of personal development; and

• investment in research and development and the promotion of high technology, in new products and new processes and in existing industries such as food processing, textiles and clothing as well as new high technology industries.

If this strategy is to be effective, then it needs to be set in the context of a series of underlying principles involving:

• the need for well-paid, high-skilled and sustainable employment;

• a commitment to and investment in the social infrastructure;

• the absolute necessity of viewing economic development in the wider context of social, political, cultural and environmental priorities; and

• the requirement to instigate full parity of esteem and equality of treatment for nationalists.

A `Peace Dividend' For All

A term that has been given particular importance and prominence in discussions around the peace process has been the `peace dividend.' Sinn Fein welcomes this and urges that the discussion is translated into actual policy and increased economic activity and employment. In this context, it is important to separate each of the component parts of the dividend that could arise. These are:

• funds from outside governments and bodies such as the US and the European Union;

• flows of inward investment from abroad, in particular the US;

• the regeneration of indigenous economic activity as a result of the shift from a war to a productive peace economy;

• the regeneration of the border region;

• the promotion of genuine and full economic integration within the whole of Ireland;

• better coordinated policy on all-Ireland basis in areas such as industrial development, agriculture, health care, education and energy;

• and, perhaps most importantly, the freeing up of public resources previously expended on military use and the containment of political conflict such as the police, British army, prisons and the intelligence services (MI5 etc.).

Wherever possible, the `peace dividend' will need to be utilised according to the types of principles set out above. These include: the necessity for the benefits to be targeted at the geographical areas and social groups of most economic and social need; the requirement for genuine democratic accountability, participation and control by those most affected in the past; and the need to build a truly integrated island economy. Above all is the need for parity of esteem and equality of treatment for nationalists to be an intrinsic part of the `peace dividend.'

Peace, Economic Development and a New Ireland

It is Sinn Fein's firm belief that the economic, political, social, environmental and cultural aspects of economic development in Ireland are inextricably linked and must be viewed as mutually reinforcing if genuine benefits for all the people of Ireland are to be realised.

Sinn Fein's ultimate objective is to build a new, prosperous and dynamic thirty-two county Ireland that takes us away from partition, division, domination, discrimination, disadvantage, economic failure and injustice. These are the failed ways of the past. This new Ireland will be based on sustainable social and economic development; genuine democracy, participation and equality at all levels of the economy and society; justice for all irrespective of religion, political opinion, gender, sexuality, disability, age or ethnic origin; lasting and meaningful peace; and unity of purpose and action.

Within Sinn Fein's vision of a new Ireland, the US has a key role to play and contribution to make in the political, economic and social development of the country. Ireland's close relationship with the US can build on the historical affinities of the past. This can help to ensure that US investment and other forms of US economic aid meet the agreed needs of Irish economic and social development and are of benefit to all the people of Ireland, in particular those nationalist communities most seriously discriminated against and disadvantage by British rule.

Released in the US by: