NI Chamber of Commerce welcome IRA arms move

Business leaders across Northern Ireland have welcomed the IRA's decommissioning move.

In a statement from the Northern Ireland Chambers of Commerce, the group said the move by the republican paramilitary group was the biggest sign so far that companies could rely on lasting peace.

It also expressed its relief that the executive and elected assembly were now likely to survive. The timing was especially favourable as firms contend with the continuing threat of global recession.

The move is also likely to build on the momentum gained from the IRA’s initial ceasefire call in 1994 when Northern Ireland began to see a dramatic revival in the local economy.

Not only has employment in construction gone up by half, but 20,000 new jobs have been created in tourism as the province is now seen in a different light than that of devastation and destruction.

However, Northern Ireland hasn’t always been in such a positive economic position. During the years of the so-called ‘troubles’ it was long seen as one of the poorest regions in the UK with business confidence at its lowest during the 1970's which saw the worst of paramilitary violence. (MB)