Sour letter writer compares UK leaving the EU to prodigal son, yet sounds like his angry brother

I leave it to qualified economists to respond in detail to Joseph Mackay of Westmeath (‘It can be lonely and cold outside the EU’, January 30) who offered his sour opinion on UK leaving the EU and used the story of the prodigal son Luke 15: 11-32.

By The Newsroom

Published 31st Jan 2020, 08:30 BST

I assume he takes the place of the sour angry brother who rejected his father’s kindness to his brother.

Anyhow, he will find that in 2018 Germany’s share of total contributions to the EU budget was 20.78%, the highest of any EU member state.

Only three other member states contributed more than 10% to the EU budget, France (15.58%) the UK (11.88%) and Italy (11.74%).

Ireland is listed in 12th place at 1.69%. He will also find that his country is under financial review until at least 2031 to monitor their capacity to repay 75% of the loans they received. He will note the good trade the Republic of Ireland has with NI and GB.

I hope his country does well but he is never offered a job as their advisor.

David Barbour, Ex UUP councillor, Coleraine