It is natural for those of us who voted to remain in the EU to be sceptical that an infrastructural project such as the link between A1 and A2 carriageway will no longer be supported.
This conclusion is based upon our belief that the Government in Stormount and in Westminister will have no interest in the economy of Newry Mourne & Down. That may have been our experience in past decades. It may even have been enhanced by the role that the European Union carried out in dispensing funds to deprived areas.
The Brexit campaigners promised us all that everything would be better when we were out of the EU. They pointed not only to the £350m per week but to the other £500m per week that would no longer be going toBrussels. The pure logic is that not only will the EU Funds for border areas be available but they can be increased. It would also follow that they can be more quickly dispensed and with less procedure.
We as a Chamber need our politicians of all parties to unite to ensure that the promise is delivered.
We cannot reverse the vote and indeed we should rejoice in the analysis that it has been an outcry by the underprivileged. In the absence of our own primary issue about the return of a physical border then we may well have voted in protest at a government inWestminsterthat was ignoring us. We are as peripheralised and ignored asSunderland. It must be the new aspiration of all of us that privilege recognises deprivation and that it acts to equalise society throughout the United Kingdom. This means among other issues such as social welfare, a better distribution of employment opportunities, assistance to businesses, and adequate infrastructure.
The range of benefits of a link between the A1 and A2, include improved air standards for Newry, access to and from South Down to health facilities, increased tourism, and improved access for trade. The completion of this link should be our dividend whilst freedom of movement and goods must be taken for granted as the base line promise of the break from the European Union.
Yours Sincerely
Michael Mc Keown
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