Peace Dividend has bypassed Derry – Mc Cann

A former Foyle MLA says 20 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there’s no evidence that the anticipated “peace dividend” has transformed Northern Ireland’s economic prospects.
Eamon Mc Cann says it certainly hasn’t happened in Derry, especially when compared to Belfast.
The People Before Profit campaigner says this is not an attempt to do down Belfast, it is a matter of statistics, of objective fact.
In a statement, Eamon Mc Cann says Belfast’s economy has grown by 14 percent in real terms since the Good Friday Agreement. Derry’s economy has contracted by seven percent.
Per capita income in Belfast stood at more than £31,000 in 2015, up 14%. Per capita income in Derry was £15,000, down 12%.
Belfast is among the top 20 percent of UK government districts for economic performance since 1997. Derry is among the bottom five percent for the same period.
The former MLA says a cynic might ask whether it’s any wonder that the alternative name for the Good Friday Agreement is “The Belfast Agreement.”
Mr Mc Cann identifies expansion of Ulster University’s campus in the city is key, along with serious decentralisation and a fundamental reform of Invesdt NI’s strategy.
Without those, he concludes, there is no reason to believe anythng will change.