Call for merger of Invest NI with Republic's counterpart

[two gun sid]

From The Belfast Telegraph:
The debate over the economic development of Northern Ireland took a new direction today after a leading business figure suggested Invest NI should be merged with its counterpart in the Republic.

Dr Alan Gillespie, a former chairman of the Industrial Development Board, Invest NI's predecessor, claimed a "fully collaborative" all-island economic development agency would help to attract more foreign direct investment to the province - and stimulate Ulster's economic growth.

"I believe that to market Northern Ireland effectively we should align the inward investment marketing activities of Invest NI with the Republic of Ireland's IDA (Industrial Development Agency)," he wrote in an article for The Irish Times.

"We should promote an all-island economy through a single, joined-up effective agency with the IDA and INI no longer competitors, but merged and fully collaborative," he said.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3022165.ece

"We should promote an all-island economy..." I'm too stunned to even make a comment.

[Rambis]

1. Gob smacked

Economic development forces forging a united Ireland? Fair play to em!