“Derry economy plummeting since Good Friday Agreement” – Caolán Doherty
A recent report published by the ‘Derry University Group’ outlines just how bad the people have it in Derry, laying bare the economic schism across the Six Counties.
“Whilst Belfast’s economy has grown a significant 14% since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Derry’s economy has plummeted by 7%,” says Lasair Dhearg’s Caolán Doherty.
“To state the issue in more blunt terms, since the restoration of Stormont in 2007, Derry’s economy has nosedived by a remarkable 21%. That’s one fifth of the economic output of the city gone in just a few short years, alongside the lack of investment to deal with the endemic poverty, housing and mental health crises.”
Caolán said that, “It is quite clear that Derry was doing much better economically during the most recent period of heightened conflict. So how can it be that the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, sold to our people as a new dispensation and a new beginning, would instead bring increased deprivation and a regional economic downturn? These are serious questions that Sinn Féin and the DUP have so far failed to answer.”
“They have wedded themselves to an economic system that favours profits over people. They believe that so long as the money comes rolling in, be it government grants or rent from housing, that with the creation of a perpetual crisis in government they can keep the votes rolling in too. But the people of Derry are slowly waking up to this.”
He continued, “This new research reveals a substantial regional imbalance in economic growth across the Six County State. The report says that to rectify this, additional educational investment is needed in Derry, and calls for the creation of a new body of higher education in the city. Lasair Dhearg supports the call, and we add to the demand, for a University to be situated in Derry. Such a move would no doubt bring about significant economic benefits for the city and the region as a whole, potentially slowing a continuing downward trend.”
“Such investment in education, however, will not fully resolve the issue at hand. This situation we find ourselves in is as a result of the political and economic system forced upon the people of Ireland. Constantly trying to rebalance a system designed to extract as much resources as possible from our country and our people will never fully resolve itself. The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go.”
ENDS
