Diane Dodds: There is far more NI trade with GB than the Republic

On Thursday March 8, Sinn Fein's MEP Martina Anderson took to Twitter to declare vindication of her economic argument.

By The Newsroom

Published 9th Mar 2018, 23:56 BST

Updated 10th Mar 2018, 06:24 BST

Her ‘celebration’ stemmed from a BBC online report about a 3% rise in trade with the EU.

“Just as I have been saying” exclaimed Martina.

Had Martina read to the end of the article she would have read, “The figures do not reflect business between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, which are categorised as ‘external sales’ ... Great Britain is Northern Ireland’s most valuable market, with sales worth £14bn annually.”

Our external sales to the UK are vastly more than trade with the Republic of Ireland, the rest of the EU and rest of the world combined.

I can only thank Martina for publicising the kind of facts which the DUP have been pointing out for sometime.

For once, I agree with Martina Anderson — people should absolutely remember this report.

Diane Dodds, DUP MEP