Over 60 people – many of them local councillors from both sides of the border – attended a seminar on cross-border labour mobility organised by East Border Region and the Centre for Cross Border Studies (CCBS) in Newry on 22 November.
The opening address was by Feargal McCormack, Managing Partner of FPM Chartered Accountants, whose title was ‘A Practical Observation of the Achievements and Challenges of doing business across the Irish Border’. He gave a detailed overview of the business and tax situation in the two Irish jurisdictions.
Dr John Bradley, formerly a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, spoke on ‘A Border Development Zone: Is this the way to address the legacy of vanishing borders?’ He drew on his recent CCBS study with Professor Michael Best – Cross-Border Economic Renewal: Rethinking Regional Policy in Ireland – and outlined, in particular, former IDA chief Padraic White’s idea for a cross-border Economic Development Zone as a way forward for the Irish border region.
Annmarie O’Kane, manager of the Border People cross-border mobility information website (www.borderpeople.info) , explained how people could access this service for the most up-to-date information about social welfare, healthcare, older people’s benefits and a wealth of other practical information in the two Irish jurisdictions. Joe Lavery, coordinator of the EURES cross-border partnership between Ireland and Northern Ireland, outlined how this service operates to help both employers and employees with cross-border information about workplace-related matters.
Download speakers’ power point presentations:
Feargal McCormack – A Practical Observation of the Achievements and Challenges of doing business across the Irish Border PDF
Dr John Bradley - Border Development Zone: Is this the way to address the legacy of vanishing borders? PDF
Annmarie O’Kane – Border People information service – www.borderpeople.info PDF
Joe Lavery – EURES Cross Border Partnership PDF
For further information please contact Annmarie O’Kane at a.okane@qub.ac.uk
