Newry Chamber Hosts Discussions with Economy Minister on Economic Vision for the Greater Newry Area

Minister Murphy outlined in detail his Economic Vision for the North across the four key areas he has identified as being crucial to building a strong and sustainable local economy namely Creating Good Jobs, Promoting Regional Balance, Increasing Productivity Rate and Reducing Carbon Emissions.

Edwina Flynn, President of Newry Chamber welcomed the Minister to the meeting, which was held at the Chamber Offices and expressed Newry Chamber’s support for the approach he is taking.

This was echoed by Michael Savage, CEO of Newry Chamber who outlined to the Minister how his strategy overlaps with the Chamber’s three core strategic pillars of:

- Continuing to develop Newry Chamber into one of the largest business organisations in NI with an active and engaged membership base.

- Leading the lobby to address the infrastructure deficit to unlock the Greater Newry Area's development and investment potential.

- Bringing businesses, education and training providers together to develop a localised strategy to tackle the region's skills and recruitment challenges.

The meeting was also attended by Chamber Vice President, Gary Digney and Board Members, Deborah Loughran and Dr. Conor Patterson, who is providing expert advice to the Minister on Regional Balance.

Speaking after the meeting, Chamber President, Edwina Flynn said: “It was great to welcome the Minister to his home city today to spend time with us to discuss in detail his Economic Vision for the North and how we can work collaboratively across Government and Business to build a stronger and sustainable economy for the Greater Newry Area.”

Michael Savage, CEO of Newry Chamber said: “The Greater Newry Area is entering a decade of opportunity. Our location as a Gateway City and Region to the European and UK Markets will provide huge opportunities in the months and years ahead and it is vital that we are primed and ready to seize those opportunities.

“The Chamber’s core strategic pillars mirror the sentiments of the Minister’s Economic Vision so we are supportive of what he is trying to achieve. The challenge for us all is to create the circumstances and environment that encourages investment into this region and that needs to be underpinned by investment in infrastructure and public services.

“We made our case to the Minister today and believe we got a fair hearing and we look forward to taking today’s initial discussions to the next level as we all strive to build a strong economic future for Greater Newry.”

Commenting on the discussions, Economy Minister, Conor Murphy MLA said: “I discussed with the Newry Chamber the challenges and opportunities facing the local business community. Its location at the heart of the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor and its strong talent base means the Greater Newry Area is well positioned to take advantage of the all-Ireland economy and dual access to EU and British markets. This engagement will feed into the local economic plan being developed by my department and Invest NI.”