Vol. 447 No. 1
254 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the measures, if any, his Department and an Bord Tráchtála have put in place to exploit the opportunities for our exporters to Northern Ireland that should result from the peace initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3400/94]
As I said recently, on the occasion of a very successful all-Ireland store promotion in London. I am convinced that the achievement of a lasting peace on this island will bear economic fruit, particularly in the area of trade development. One of the reasons for this it that a very good foundation has already been laid in recent years by the State agencies on both sides of the Border, focusing on new opportunities within Ireland and joint promotional activities abroad.
While it is true that opportunities for our exporters do exist in the North and are being acted upon, I prefer to think in terms of a two-way process which will result in the creation of a genuine internal market on the island of Ireland. Overall, the intention is that the share of the all-Ireland market held by Irish firms, North and South, will increase substantially.
In terms of putting particular economic initiatives in place, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that one of the agencies for which I have responsibility, An Bord Tráchtála, last week published a very comprehensive market profile on Northern Ireland. This is in a user-friendly format and would be particularly valuable to Southern firms who are unfamiliar with the marketing environment in the North in terms of household expenditure patterns, the structure of the retail trade, etc.
