Northern Ireland Business Community Voices Concerns Over Political Uncertainty

Undated photo of Parliament Buildings, often referred to as Stormont, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. (PA Media)

Business leaders in Northern Ireland have expressed concerns over the continuing political uncertainty following Thursday’s local elections and have called for the reestablishment of a fully functioning government for the region.

Northern Ireland has not had a functioning local government since February, when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), then the largest party in the regional assembly, withdrew from the power-sharing executive.

The DUP’s move was intended as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol of the UK–EU agreement on post-Brexit trade, which unionists say has created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

In the UK local elections held on May 5, Sinn Fein, an Irish nationalist political party that has links to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), won a historic victory by becoming the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time.

But under the power-sharing arrangement between unionists and nationalists, a new government still cannot be formed, because the DUP says it will not nominate ministers until the UK government has acted over issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Local business groups have expressed worries over the prospect of lengthy post-election negotiations and uncertainty over the return of the Stormont Executive.

The local chapter of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called for the quick reestablishment of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Angela McGowan, director of CBI Northern Ireland, said, “Businesses now hope that a functioning Executive follows quickly for the sake of the economy, international competitiveness, and the prosperity of all communities, because households and businesses alike are facing into strong economic headwinds and struggling to manage the cost-of-living and rising cost of doing business.”

“We’ve got a real chance to push our economy forward if a newly formed Executive works together with business in a spirit of collaboration,” she said, adding, “What’s clear is that we cannot wait until later this year to deploy growth boosting measures.”

The Northern Ireland branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB NI) said that there is an “onus on the next Executive to carry out its activities in a business-like and transparent manner.”

Roger Pollen, chief executive of FSB NI, said, “With so much at stake, our priority is to see the formation of a stable Executive which can take decisions that will provide stability for SMEs at a time of rising costs and deep uncertainty.”

PA Media contributed to this report.