This matter relates to the need to ensure that the interests of the six Border counties are fully represented at the Washington Conference. Some people may think I am raising this issue too late but I do not think so.
Most people regarded the Washington Trade and Investment Conference as a unique opportunity for Border regions, North and South, to catch up on entitlements they had not received for many years. The economies of these regions have been severely damaged by 25 years of violence. Following the announcement of the conference I did all I could at meetings of the Monaghan County Enterprise Board, of which I am a member, and the IDA to ensure that we would have a well documented case to put at the conference. When the co-ops and farming organisations gave evidence at the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation I put it to the President of the ICOS, Billy Nagle, that the co-ops in Monaghan engaged in exports, including three of the major co-ops in Border counties with acquisitions in the US, were ideally placed to develop joint ventures.
On 25 April I put down a question to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs asking the steps, if any, he had taken to ensure that Government agencies in the six counties south of the Border had a well documented submission for the Washington Trade Conference in seeking inward investment. He replied that in preparation for the conference, Government Departments and State agencies were co-ordinating closely to ensure the best possible presentation of our case. My county enterprise board informed me that at no time was it contacted regarding a submission. The chief executive officers of the enterprise boards were best placed to know the needs of their counties — they had all the statistics and knew the sites and personnel. The county manager in Monaghan was willing to give his invitation to the conference to the chief executive officer of the enterprise board but he was not allowed do this.
I was so concerned about this matter that I wrote to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs on 16 May stating:
I wish to express my grave disappointment at the failure to issue chief executive officers in the County Enterprise Boards with an invitation to attend the White House Conference for Trade and Inward Investment in Ireland. I believe they would have been ideally placed to make positive contributions to industrial development and investment in Ireland. From enquiries made by me recently there does not appear to be any co-ordinated effort by Government development agencies in the Border region to avail of this opportunity to secure additional funding.
Last night I watched "Marketplace", half of which was devoted to the Washington Conference. It featured four Northern Ireland firms and discussed the conference with an MEP, MP and an economist from the University of Ulster. The only person who referred to the six counties south of the Border was Séamus Mallon who said that the conference was for the six counties north of the Border and the six counties south of the Border. This morning I contacted RTE to let it know now displeased I was with this programme. We have been short-changed in the past and we should not put up with it any longer.
It has been generally accepted for many years that Cavan and Monaghan have fared badly from inward investment. They depend on local entrepreneurs in their food, furniture and engineering industries. We had a unique opportunity but we blew it on this occasion. I will pursue this issue until I get an answer to the case documented and as to who was contacted when the people who had most to offer were ignored and not allowed to attend the conference.
