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Politicians in Northern Ireland need to focus “on creating an environment that will sustain and enhance manufacturing in Northern Ireland” members of East Antrim Alliance Party in East Antrim have been told by Manufacturing NI chief, Stephen Kelly.

Keynote speaker at the party’s annual East Antrim Business Breakfast, which was held recently in Carrickfergus, Mr Kelly focused on the integral role Northern Ireland’s manufacturing industry plays in the economy of the region and emphasised the number of families supported through employment in the sector.

He said: “When manufacturing grows, the whole economy grows with it.

“We need well-paid, sustainable jobs in places where people want to work, set up home,

Party leader Naomi Long and Stephen Kelly at the Business Breakfast

and contribute to their community.

“It’s incumbent upon politicians to consider the challenges the industry is facing. Currently, the sector's biggest inhibitor is a lack of labour – not the protocol.

“The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is only going to make everything worse. It could create a commercial border on the island of Ireland and effectively a border for every one of the 90,000 manufacturing businesses here.

“Politicians must consider the imminent crisis we are facing and focus on creating an environment that will sustain and enhance manufacturing in Northern Ireland.” Alliance Party Leader and Justice Minister, Naomi Long MLA, was also in attendance at the Business Breakfast as were East Antrim Alliance MLAs Stewart Dickson, and Danny Donnelly.

This year's Antrim Alliance Business Breakfast was held in Carrickfergus

Naomi Long said it “was wonderful” to see the return of the Alliance East Antrim Business Breakfast which she said was an important event in the local business calendar, both for organisations from East Antrim and further afield.

“At a time when many businesses are facing an increasingly bleak outlook due to the pandemic, the fallout from Brexit and now rising energy costs, an event such as this

is of vital importance.

“It was a positive occasion which showcased the work being done to support business and opportunities which can be availed of across various

Some of those who attended the East Antrim Alliance Business Breakfast in Carrickfergus

sectors.

“It also took place at a time when we are seeing the impact of a dysfunctional Executive on our everyday lives, including in the business community. Only with a

stable and functional government can we properly allow our businesses to flourish.

“We need to do all we can to support local businesses in these trying times and the Alliance East Antrim business breakfast shows how working hard together, we can do just that,” she said.

East Antrim Alliance members enjoy successful Business Breakfast