Agnew urges ex-colleague to condemn IRA murder

THE opportunity for Northern Ireland to take advantage of the lowest corporation tax rate in the UK is slipping away, business leaders have been told.

Ulster Unionist MLA Steve Aiken was speaking during the CBI Northern Ireland annual dinner at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall.

He was joined by senior members of the main parties at a time when Stormont remains in political limbo.

The devolved institutions collapsed in January and talks are on hold until after the June 8 general election.

“We need to see the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly up and running. We must have confidence back in Northern Ireland,” Mr Aiken said.

The UUP economy spokesman said Northern Ireland’s proposed low corporation tax rate of 12.5% had “dissipated away” following delays, with the Government now discussing cutting the duty to 15% across the UK.

On Brexit, he said: “I was a Remainer, but the vote has been taken so we have to get on with it and get the best deal possible. We need to make sure our voice is being heard.”

He said Northern Ireland needed to continue to invest in universities.

DUP MP Gavin Robinson said that the “key goal” for Northern Ireland business, the devolution of corporation tax, “cannot happen” without a devolved administration.

“I think it’s important we pursue it and push through with it,” he added.

Alliance’s Stephen Farry was more upbeat. He said: “On a positive note... we have seen the Northern Ireland economy growing in a very big way. EUROPEAN leaders are to acknowledge the potential for a united Ireland in a move that will allow the province back into the EU automatically if reunification occurs.

The recognition of a special status for Northern Ireland will be based on the situation which followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1990.

Sources say the guarantee of membership will be tied in with an acknowledgement that the terms of the Good Friday Agreement must be factored into any Brexit deal.

Wording on the commitment is still being finalised but it is expected to be in documents accompanying the formal EU negotiating guidelines tomorrow.

The development so early in the process is likely to be promoted as a coup by the Irish government.

However, the idea of Irish unity remains very sensitive for Westminster, which is also facing the prospect of a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Under the terms of the 1998 Agreement, Northern Ireland can join the Republic if such a move is supported in a vote both north and south of the border.

European leaders will discuss the parameters of the forthcoming Brexit negotiations with

“We have become a major centre for inward investment, and on the other side of the coin we have seen progress in bringing down unemployment.”

However, he said the challenges of the political impasse were having a direct impact on funding for key areas. “Some initiatives around skills are being stalled,” he said.

Addressing the issue of growth, the UK tomorrow. The formal guidelines will acknowledge the “unique circumstances on the island of Ireland” and the fact “flexible and imaginative solutions will be required” around the Border.

One political source said there was also an expectation that Taoiseach Enda Kenny could return he added: “It is the city of Belfast that will drive the Northern Ireland economy as a whole.”

Sinn Fein MLA Mairtin O Muilleoir said his party will work to restore the institutions.

The former Finance Minister said: “For the peace process for our children and grandchildren... I pledge we will continue to do that.” And he added: “It’s our resolve to continue to cam- from the summit with a guarantee the overall ‘Irish question’ will be resolved early in the twoyear Brexit process.

“That may well be the springboard for Mr Kenny to outline his plans to leave office,” the source said.

Ireland’s case got an extra boost yesterday when German paign against the lunacy of Brexit.” SDLP MP Mark Durkan said Northern Ireland cannot grow and expand business “until we have the Executive up and running”.

But he said relying on devolving corporation tax alone as a selling point for Northern Ireland was “not enough”. Addressing the guests, CBI regional director Angela McGowan warned Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Bundestag the “shared space” between the UK and the Republic of Ireland needed to be held together.

Brussels diplomats say special recognition for the importance of the Agreement is certain to happen, and there is also optimism that the EU may contin- that the effect “any political vacuum has on the business community should never be underestimated”.

She said that business, job creation and investment were at risk with the continued political impasse.

“Having a devolved government up and running again before the end of June is critical for local firms,” she said. ue its grant aid to help underpin Northern Ireland’s fragile peace for years to come.

“The EU is heavily invested in peace in Northern Ireland. It is unlikely they would want to risk just walking away,” a source said.

There was also talk of people in Northern Ireland continuing to enjoy benefits of EU citizenship.

On trade there is likely to be recognition of the extra costs facing the Republic for the high volume of exports which cross Britain en route to mainland Europe.

It is expected the Common Travel Area between the two islands can be preserved.

Mr Kenny said yesterday the aim for this weekend was to agree on “a base document”.

The real negotiating will begin some time after the June 8 general election.

The EU is insisting the ‘exit payment’ to be made by the UK must be the first item on the agenda.

Some estimates put the bill at £50bn to cover London’s existing commitments to EU spending.

In an interview with the Financial Times today, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan says an immediate row over the bill would shunt the negotiations into a cul-de-sac that would overshadow other issues.

“I would say to my European colleagues, don’t get hung up on the magnitude of the cheque,” he said. STEVEN Agnew has insisted that non-violence has always been a core principle of the Green Party after questions were raised as to how a former deputy leader who defected to Sinn Fein found a home in the party for more than two decades.

Anne Graham — sister of murdered academic Edgar Graham — told Mr Agnew to clarify where the party stands on the murder of political adversaries.

She was referring to the former deputy leader and Queen’s law lecturer Peter Doran’s refusal to condemn the 1983 IRA murder of Mr Graham, who also lectured in law at QUB.

“This man Doran seems not to have had any Damascene conversion before moving to Sinn Fein and for so long had a happy home in the Greens and held positions of influence there”, she wrote in a letter to the Belfast Telegraph.

His biography on Sinn Fein’s website describes him as having “worked closely with the Republican leadership in Derry during an early career in journalism in the 1980s”.

Mr Agnew said the Green party condemns all murders committed during the Troubles and that he cannot explain why Dr Doran, who left the party in 2011, refuses to condemn the murder of a fellow QUB academic.

“The killing of Edgar Graham is one of thousands of heinous crimes which were unjustifiable at the time and remain so today,” he said. “When Peter Doran was a member of the Green Party he signed up to our principles of democracy and non-violence.

“I would encourage Peter Doran to condemn murder in all its guises despite what the Sinn Fein party line might be.”

But Mr Doran again refused to condemn outright the killing of Mr Graham. Yesterday he reiterated his “profound sorrow” over the academic’s death, noting that he previously said nothing he could say would be adequate for those who knew and loved him.

“It is my earnest wish that all the victims of the conflict and their loved ones who have been so terribly wronged will participate in a healing that cannot come too soon,” he said.