Unionists reject North West motion
Unionist MLAs have rejected a call for the North West to be named an area of 'special economic need' to help overcome what republicans said was decades of deprivation.
Tuesday, 03 November 2009
The Assembly heard that areas of Derry City had some of the worst unemployment statistics in Europe, while poor investment meant Northern Ireland's second city is 55 miles from the nearest motorway.
Sinn Fein tabled a motion proposing special support and claimed that a vibrant North West would help lift the wider economy.
Sinn Fein's Martina Anderson said: "None of this is about Derry 'whinging'," she said.
"But neither is it about Derry versus Belfast. The fact is that a vibrant North West and a vibrant Derry is good for the economy as a whole."
Troubles
The SDLP's Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey backed the motion, but he said Derry city had suffered from a combination of active discrimination by the old Unionist administration at Stormont, plus the IRA's attacks on its economy during the Troubles.
But the unionist parties succeeded in defeating the motion after they argued against singling-out one area for special help in the face of the current economic downturn.
DUP East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said he had attacked Invest Northern Ireland in the past and had branded it 'Invest Greater Belfast', but he predicted it would consider the North West more often in the future.
Mr Campbell also said the current economic downturn had caused major difficulties across Northern Ireland and said that the largest percentage increase in unemployment over the last three years was in Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster's Fermanagh constituency.
He said: "The problem I see with the motion is that if it were to be passed, would members from (other parts of Northern Ireland) say their area should be targeted?"
The UUP's Leslie Cree (North Down) said the North West region had been hit hard by the recession.
"The question we must answer is whether declaring the North West an area of special economic need would help... I believe it would not," he added.
The Alliance Party's Sean Neeson said singling-out the North West would effectively discriminate against other areas.
The motion was voted down, as was an SDLP amendment calling for the North-West Gateway Initiative to be renewed under the authority of the North-South Ministerial Council.
© Press Association