Anti-Brit bigots continue to harm economy

Whilst there are more twitterings about the all-Ireland economy here, The Economist this week has hit on two rather rarely heard and unpalatable facts as to why Northern Ireland will continue to underperform economically.

John Bradley, an economist in Dublin who has been studying Northern Ireland's economy since the early 1990s, reckons there is a deeper reason why investors may drag their heels. Northern Ireland's oldest problem has not yet been laid to rest: sectarian tensions are quieter but remain, and anti-Britishness is still acceptable among former IRA supporters. This, he says, must change, for “if the North is not an attractive place for British firms, it will be unattractive to foreign firms.”

Rather obvious isn't it...but how often have you heard those two facts stated in any of the local media?

A whole lot easier and cowardly for the likes of Feeney to rant about tax-parities and “all-Ireland” solutions rather than to admit that the continuing anti-British bigotry amongst a section of the nationalist population is also harming investment.