Sinn Fein minister's department continues to ignore criticism over their presentation of data from two distinguished economists - who said that statistics had been used to flatter the Irish Sea border
A Sinn Fein-run Stormont department has ignored criticism from two economists that it might have used data to make the Irish Sea border look good.
Last Saturday the News Letter ran a letter from Dr Graham Gudgin and Dr Esmond Birine, in which they said the presentation of trade information appeared to use “deception” (click here to read their letter).
The two seasoned economic observers wrote: “In the several decades that we have been working with Northern Ireland’s economic data we have always been impressed with its accuracy and transparency. The civil servants involved have been diligent and honest. It is thus a disappointment that a recent economic press release from the Department for the Economy appears to introduce a degree of deception.”
The authors noted that in the press release the SF minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald had said that “the north’s” output grew faster than in Great Britain and earnings and exports also performed well. It cited statistics that showed output and earnings growing faster in NI than in Great Britain over the year but “when it came to the sensitive export figures, the press release gave figures for a two-year period rather than the latest year”.
They said the release “thus disguises” the recent slow growth of Northern Ireland’s exports and could make the Protocol/ Windsor Framework (which created an internal UK frontier) seem to be working for the province.
The News Letter went to the department prior to the publication of the letter so it had a right to reply. We then asked again on Thursday, almost a week later, but it has neither replied nor even said whether it will ever reply.