6 county corporation tax

[Stall the Bailer]

Well they could at least start with the public jobs like InvestNI. Derry should have 40% of the jobs Belfast has.
They should also be encouraging companies open up sub offices in Derry like Kainos/Allstate/Fijitsu already do.
The people are already there in the Northwest for the jobs. They are either commuting to Belfast or have moved there. I'm sure if you looked at schools the staff of the big compaines in Belfast went to, a lot would have went to northwest schools. People from the Northwest when qualified have to move for the work (to Belfast/Dublin or further a field). While there is a selection for the people of greater Belfast.
There is plenty Stormount can or could do, but they are not. Looks like they are going for the easy jobs in Belfast, the Belfast media like the headlines of the new jobs. Very few worried about it impacts elsewhere. Congestion in Belfast, note also Dublin for lack of housing due to investment being centered there and under investment elsewhere.

From a GAA point, this is not good for all the rural clubs in the west. High tech jobs in the East and little manual jobs at home = emigration.

[Maguire01]

Well they could at least start with the public jobs like InvestNI. Derry should have 40% of the jobs Belfast has.
They should also be encouraging companies open up sub offices in Derry like Kainos/Allstate/Fijitsu already do.
The people are already there in the Northwest for the jobs. They are either commuting to Belfast or have moved there. I'm sure if looked at schools the staff of the big compaines in Belfast went to, a lot would be northwest schools. People from the Northwest when qualified have to move for the work (to Belfast/Dublin or further a field). While there is a selection for the people of greater Belfast.
There is plenty Stormount can or could do, but are not.

From a GAA point, this is not good for all the rural clubs in the west. High tech jobs in the East, little manual jobs at home.

Derry is far from unique in this regard. Belfast is full of people from Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan, not just the North West. Dublin is full of people from just about every other county in Ireland.

I agree with moving some public sector jobs. As for the private sector - if Derry is good enough, or attractive enough they'll invest. Obviously government could (and should) do more in terms of infrastructure etc. to assist in making the likes of Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh more attractive, but Invest NI can't insist that, for example, 4/10 American companies wanting to invest in NI set up in Derry rather than Belfast.

[Stall the Bailer]

It would help if InvestNI had more people in Derry to help it's case. They are doing good work for Belfast, but as I said before, proportionally the need is greater elsewhere. 536 staff versus 14 it is no one wonder it easier to sell Belfast with all them staff.
If Derry had 220 InvestNI staff (40% of current Belfast/Derry total) instead of it current 14, do you think they would be attracting more jobs or selling it self better?

I'm sure an extra 204 alone jobs would help the unemployment rate in Derry.

Do you think if all the opportunities were at home, would as many of these Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan people would work at home instead of Belfast/Dublin?

These counties are creating the experienced workforce. The government is failing in creating the public jobs at home  and encouraging the private jobs locating near their home counties.

Just because Derry is not unique does it make it any less wrong.

[blewuporstuffed]

It would help if InvestNI had more people in Derry to help it's case. They are doing good work for Belfast, but as I said before, proportionally the need is greater elsewhere. 536 staff versus 14 it is no one wonder it easier to sell Belfast with all them staff.
If Derry had 220 InvestNI staff (40% of current Belfast/Derry total) instead of it current 14, do you think they would be attracting more jobs or selling it self better?

I'm sure an extra 204 alone jobs would help the unemployment rate in Derry.

Do you think if all the opportunities were at home, would as many of these Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan people would work at home instead of Belfast/Dublin?

These counties are creating the experienced workforce. The government is failing in creating the public jobs at home  and encouraging the private jobs locating near their home counties.

Just because Derry is not unique does it make it any less wrong.

+1

[Maguire01]

It would help if InvestNI had more people in Derry to help it's case. They are doing good work for Belfast, but as I said before, proportionally the need is greater elsewhere. 536 staff versus 14 it is no one wonder it easier to sell Belfast with all them staff.
If Derry had 220 InvestNI staff (40% of current Belfast/Derry total) instead of it current 14, do you think they would be attracting more jobs or selling it self better?

I'm sure an extra 204 alone jobs would help the unemployment rate in Derry.

Do you think if all the opportunities were at home, would as many of these Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan people would work at home instead of Belfast/Dublin?

These counties are creating the experienced workforce. The government is failing in creating the public jobs at home  and encouraging the private jobs locating near their home counties.

Just because Derry is not unique does it make it any less wrong.

But there's an element of economies of scale. Companies want and often need other companies around them to support their business. Sometimes this just won't be viable in smaller towns and cities. With the best will in the world, Derry will not attract 40% (or whatever the appropriate proportion is) of Foreign Direct Investment into NI because of this. There's also the fact that, even given investment in infrastructure, it's significantly more remote than Belfast (to the likes of Dublin and London), which will be a factor for some (though not all) companies.

[Stall the Bailer]

This is reason why they have more need. As you say it is more difficult but they are getting less help.
Other Irish cities of similar size fair better than Derry.
The government are failing them and not giving them a fair chance. There is lots they can do.
They are doing the easy work in Belfast instead.
I'm sure you have also plenty of ideas of what could help the situation.

[Maguire01]

This is reason why they have more need. As you say it is more difficult but they are getting less help.
Other Irish cities of similar size fair better than Derry.
The government are failing them and not giving them a fair chance. There is lots they can do.
They are doing the easy work in Belfast instead.
I'm sure you have also plenty of ideas of what could help the situation.

I don't have all the answers at all. And the options are often conflicted - for example which of these scenarios should have priority:
A5 to Derry or Westland/M2/M3 interchange?
Rail connection to International Airport or improved rail line to Derry?
It's not straightforward. I'd definitely support moving public sector jobs out of Belfast - not exclusively to the NW either.

Back to the main topic on the thread - i'm not sure devolving corporation tax is a great idea - it's a high-risk strategy and i'm not sure the likely rewards will outweigh the hit on the block grant. And given that the parties can't agree on existing cuts, i'm not sure how they'll agree the additional cuts that will be required if the rate of tax is reduced.

[Stall the Bailer]

This is reason why they have more need. As you say it is more difficult but they are getting less help.
Other Irish cities of similar size fair better than Derry.
The government are failing them and not giving them a fair chance. There is lots they can do.
They are doing the easy work in Belfast instead.
I'm sure you have also plenty of ideas of what could help the situation.

I don't have all the answers at all. And the options are often conflicted - for example which of these scenarios should have priority:
A5 to Derry or Westland/M2/M3 interchange?
Rail connection to International Airport or improved rail line to Derry?
It's not straightforward. I'd definitely support moving public sector jobs out of Belfast - not exclusively to the NW either.

Back to the main topic on the thread - i'm not sure devolving corporation tax is a great idea - it's a high-risk strategy and i'm not sure the likely rewards will outweigh the hit on the block grant. And given that the parties can't agree on existing cuts, i'm not sure how they'll agree the additional cuts that will be required if the rate of tax is reduced.

I would build the Omagh and Strabane bypass part of the A5, the Dungiven bypass and A6 road from the M1 to Toome.
If the southern government also gave their share then all of the A5 from Strabane to Omagh could be completed.

In Belfast I would try to reduce the current traffic first. Firstly stop the stupidity of building offices in the Titanic quarter (one road in and out on the coldest/bleak site in Belfast, which is only going to make the west link much worse).
The new office space needed for all the high tech jobs could be built in a new business park (something like east point or citywest in Dublin). This could be located just off a major junction on the M1 (the Maze site with a new off slip) or M2 (Mallusk or Templepatrick) which would help traffic in Belfast and bring the jobs closer to people of the west.

The cost of the M2/M3 westlink upgrade is £130 million. How about taking 1 or 2 million of it and spend it on setting up a scheme to encourage business and thier staff to work from home. A few thousand working from home each day would reduce traffic levels.

I agree with you about moving public sector out of Belfast to all parts. Every job moved out would further help traffic in Belfast. To reduce traffic level in Belfast the would better spending money.
How about moving the  assembly out of Stormount to likes of Dungannon (historic seat of Ulster) or Enniskillen. The likes of Canada, Brazil, Australia or West Germany in past  don't have their government reside in their big cities, so no reason why everyone needs to be up on hill.

[Maguire01]

This is reason why they have more need. As you say it is more difficult but they are getting less help.
Other Irish cities of similar size fair better than Derry.
The government are failing them and not giving them a fair chance. There is lots they can do.
They are doing the easy work in Belfast instead.
I'm sure you have also plenty of ideas of what could help the situation.

I don't have all the answers at all. And the options are often conflicted - for example which of these scenarios should have priority:
A5 to Derry or Westland/M2/M3 interchange?
Rail connection to International Airport or improved rail line to Derry?
It's not straightforward. I'd definitely support moving public sector jobs out of Belfast - not exclusively to the NW either.

Back to the main topic on the thread - i'm not sure devolving corporation tax is a great idea - it's a high-risk strategy and i'm not sure the likely rewards will outweigh the hit on the block grant. And given that the parties can't agree on existing cuts, i'm not sure how they'll agree the additional cuts that will be required if the rate of tax is reduced.

I would build the Omagh and Strabane bypass part of the A5, the Dungiven bypass and A6 road from the M1 to Toome.
If the southern government also gave their share then all of the A5 from Strabane to Omagh could be completed.

In Belfast I would try to reduce the current traffic first. Firstly stop the stupidity of building offices in the Titanic quarter (one road in and out on the coldest/bleak site in Belfast, which is only going to make the west link much worse).
The new office space needed for all the high tech jobs could be built in a new business park (something like east point or citywest in Dublin). This could be located just off a major junction on the M1 (the Maze site with a new off slip) or M2 (Mallusk or Templepatrick) which would help traffic in Belfast and bring the jobs closer to people of the west.

The cost of the M2/M3 westlink upgrade is £130 million. How about taking 1 or 2 million of it and spend it on setting up a scheme to encourage business and thier staff to work from home. A few thousand working from home each day would reduce traffic levels.

I agree with you about moving public sector out of Belfast to all parts. Every job moved out would further help traffic in Belfast. To reduce traffic level in Belfast the would better spending money.
How about moving the  assembly out of Stormount to likes of Dungannon (historic seat of Ulster) or Enniskillen. The likes of Canada, Brazil, Australia or West Germany in past  don't have their government reside in their big cities, so no reason why everyone needs to be up on hill.

I agree with a lot of what you say. I'd have no issue in moving the Assembly out of Belfast, although I imagine it creates a relatively small amount of traffic in comparison to the government departments themselves. Definitely a business park, including some of those government departments, at somewhere like the Maze, could make a massive difference in the volume of traffic heading into the city, and there's be no need for current staff to relocate.

I think the M2/M3/Westlink interchange is an absolute priority, it's a mess.

Interestingly, with Belfast having such a high proportion of people working in the public sector, flexible start and finish times actually spread the traffic - if the economy was 'rebalanced', the peak time traffic could be even more horrendous.

[naka]

 
Still think west of the bann  needs to do more to attract the private sector to it
whilst I am from south Armagh and commute daily to Belfast
a lot of my clients are guys I went to school and who as soon as they had an idea to set up business relocated to newry

[Stall the Bailer]

Newry has a lot of infrastructure that west of Bann doesn't. Motorway beside it, railway and not far from Belfast or Dublin. All helps. 

[Stall the Bailer]

This is reason why they have more need. As you say it is more difficult but they are getting less help.
Other Irish cities of similar size fair better than Derry.
The government are failing them and not giving them a fair chance. There is lots they can do.
They are doing the easy work in Belfast instead.
I'm sure you have also plenty of ideas of what could help the situation.

I don't have all the answers at all. And the options are often conflicted - for example which of these scenarios should have priority:
A5 to Derry or Westland/M2/M3 interchange?
Rail connection to International Airport or improved rail line to Derry?
It's not straightforward. I'd definitely support moving public sector jobs out of Belfast - not exclusively to the NW either.

Back to the main topic on the thread - i'm not sure devolving corporation tax is a great idea - it's a high-risk strategy and i'm not sure the likely rewards will outweigh the hit on the block grant. And given that the parties can't agree on existing cuts, i'm not sure how they'll agree the additional cuts that will be required if the rate of tax is reduced.

I would build the Omagh and Strabane bypass part of the A5, the Dungiven bypass and A6 road from the M1 to Toome.
If the southern government also gave their share then all of the A5 from Strabane to Omagh could be completed.

In Belfast I would try to reduce the current traffic first. Firstly stop the stupidity of building offices in the Titanic quarter (one road in and out on the coldest/bleak site in Belfast, which is only going to make the west link much worse).
The new office space needed for all the high tech jobs could be built in a new business park (something like east point or citywest in Dublin). This could be located just off a major junction on the M1 (the Maze site with a new off slip) or M2 (Mallusk or Templepatrick) which would help traffic in Belfast and bring the jobs closer to people of the west.

The cost of the M2/M3 westlink upgrade is £130 million. How about taking 1 or 2 million of it and spend it on setting up a scheme to encourage business and thier staff to work from home. A few thousand working from home each day would reduce traffic levels.

I agree with you about moving public sector out of Belfast to all parts. Every job moved out would further help traffic in Belfast. To reduce traffic level in Belfast the would better spending money.
How about moving the  assembly out of Stormount to likes of Dungannon (historic seat of Ulster) or Enniskillen. The likes of Canada, Brazil, Australia or West Germany in past  don't have their government reside in their big cities, so no reason why everyone needs to be up on hill.

I agree with a lot of what you say. I'd have no issue in moving the Assembly out of Belfast, although I imagine it creates a relatively small amount of traffic in comparison to the government departments themselves. Definitely a business park, including some of those government departments, at somewhere like the Maze, could make a massive difference in the volume of traffic heading into the city, and there's be no need for current staff to relocate.

I think the M2/M3/Westlink interchange is an absolute priority, it's a mess.

Interestingly, with Belfast having such a high proportion of people working in the public sector, flexible start and finish times actually spread the traffic - if the economy was 'rebalanced', the peak time traffic could be even more horrendous.

We agree on a lot, just a pity those with power couldn't stop  making same old mistakes and start to work on some of the small good ideas at least.

[OakleafCounty]

Still think west of the bann  needs to do more to attract the private sector to it
whilst I am from south Armagh and commute daily to Belfast
a lot of my clients are guys I went to school and who as soon as they had an idea to set up business relocated to newry

Stormont needs to do more to make the West of the Bann more attractive!!! They chose to pump £300 million into the placing a University of Ulster Campus in Belfast rather than investing in the Derry campus. They've chosen not to push ahead with the A5 and A6 roads. They've chosen not to build a direct train line to Derry through the Sperrins which nobody even bothers to push for. They've chosen not to improve the existing scenic route train line and awful train station that we have. Through Invest NI Stormont has chosen to keep 80% of funding for new companies in Belfast while the Greater Belfast area only has roughly 28% of the population of the 6 counties.

In the past five years Derry has lost 2000 jobs while Belfast has gained 15000. This is down to a strategy which was put in place in the early 1920's and has continued until today. The only difference today is that it is being implemented by both sides of the political fence.

[naka]

Newry has a lot of infrastructure that west of Bann doesn't. Motorway beside it, railway and not far from Belfast or Dublin. All helps.

I think that is the important point which all  private employers look at( location)
unfortunately west of the bann suffers because of its location and no matter what happens this will unfortunately continue to be the case.

[Rossfan]

How about a referendum in "West of the Bann" to see if they want to join the 26 Cos.
At least ye might get a good road to Dublin if nothing else.