IN MY VIEW: ‘Where we have achieved success it has been through working together’ - Martina Anderson MLA

There is no doubt that Derry and the wider north west faces many challenges as a result of historic underinvestment. Much good work has been done to address that legacy of neglect in recent years and it is clear Derry is now a city in transition. But there is much more to do.

The onset of Brexit also poses challenges for the redevelopment of the wider north west and its economy. And these will require innovative and meaningful solutions. Solutions however, will not come overnight. There are no easy fixes, no magic wands.

Recent utterances appear to present Freeports as a potential easy fix. This has certainly been the view of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has promoted Freeports as part of his plans for a post-Brexit Global Britain. We need to be ultra-cautious and ultra-suspicious about Tory proposals. There are already serious questions relating to the Freeport concept and these need to be carefully and fully considered.

Freeports have been known to act as tax havens for international tax evaders. The European Commission introduced a new set of rules at the beginning of the year which requires Members States to identify and report suspicious activities at such ports and zones as a result of the “high incidence of corruption, tax evasion, criminal activity”. Indeed in 2019 the European Parliament called for Freeports to be phased out across the EU as a result of a report on tax evasion and money laundering.

Furthermore it’s unclear what impact Freeports may have on the Irish Protocol on Brexit which contains unique and vital protections for the north’s economy, avoidance of any hardening of the border and the protection of the Good Friday Agreement. Assertions about “freeports that will drive growth and thousands of high-skilled jobs” as Boris Johnson himself put it have been challenged based on the example of Freeports elsewhere.

Rather than creating employment freeports have been known to incentivise the dislocation of jobs from other areas into the freeport itself, therefore displacing economic activity rather than increasing it across the region as a whole. This could further exacerbate regional imbalances and undermine local and indeed all-Ireland trade. Concerns regarding the standard of any jobs created has also been called into question and the potential deregulated environment of a Freeport raises questions about workers rights and labour standards. Given the long and proud history of the Derry dockers standing up for their rights and the rights of other workers any diminution of workers’ rights would be seen as a backward step.

We need to find new and dynamic initiatives tailored to our unique circumstances but quick-fix proposals - particularly if they come from British Tories - have to be carefully and forensically tested. Regeneration of this city and district requires a strategic, sustained and collaborative effort driven by the people of this area.

Where we have achieved success to date it has been through working together. When everyone who has the best interests of this city and its people at heart join forces we can achieve so much more. This has been illustrated with the successful campaign to secure a medical school at Magee.

Representatives from all political parties, local civil and business leaders and others came together and fought long and hard to make the case for the medical school and now, thanks to Executive approval from the Joint Heads of Government, applications are now being sought for the first intake of students to begin their training next September.

This will be a catalyst for other investments and developments in the city, together with existing work already underway, to aid the regeneration and create more opportunities for young people.

Just this week I and Karen Mullan MLA, accompanied our Sinn Féin colleague Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín to a meeting in the city to discuss the potential of the rest of the Fort George site, adjacent to the Science Park and riverfront, to be used to boost further investment and development.

Working together with other local authorities from across Derry, Tyrone and Donegal we can ensure the north west becomes a regional hub and is recognised as such across the island.

We have already demonstrated that we can be innovators in health and technology through C-TRIC, the robotics department at Ulster University and the ever-expanding range of start-up companies across the district. With further support, particularly in terms of continuing to develop infrastructure links to the rest of the island, there is so much more we can do.

We need to see the Infrastructure Minister stepping up efforts, along with her ministerial counterpart in Dublin, to ensure the delivery of the A5 upgrade.

These, combined with the continuing collaboration that we have demonstrated to date, will be the route to long term, meaningful, economic regeneration which benefits everyone.