‘DUP ignoring business Brexit fears’ – O’Neill

The DUP is ignoring the fears of the business community as the party pursues a reckless hard Brexit agenda which threatens to impose a hard border, Sinn Féin Deputy leader Michelle O’Neill has said.

The Sinn Féin Vice President was speaking ahead of meeting with CBI tomorrow, Thursday 24 October.

She commented: “The business community have rightfully expressed very serious fears about the impact of Brexit on our economy but those fears are being ignored by a DUP prepared to decimate our economic future in pursuit of a hard Brexiteer agenda.

“It is economic madness to pursue a course of action that will lead to a hard border on our island.

“A hard border would lead to additional delays and costs, which our small and medium enterprises, many of whom trade on an all-Ireland basis, simply cannot absorb.

“Jobs, trade and investment will all be affected with the very real risk that the North becomes an economic backwater with disinvestment by major employers and a severe roll back on economic development.

“That is the kind of economic ruin the DUP is prepared to accept rather than countenance a ‘backstop’ arrangement which would continue to provide unfettered trade with both Britain and the EU giving us a unique proposition that would be a magnet for investment and transform our economy.

“The DUP are prioritising mythical constitutional threats over our economic future and that represents a gross failure of leadership at a pivotal time in our history.”