Manufacturing decline in NI 'poses many challenges'

Eight out of 10 people working in the North do not produce a thing, it was revealed today.

In a region which was once a manufacturing powerhouse, the service industries have become so dominant that in Belfast they provide more than 90% of all employment.

According to a new study by the GMB trade union, of all employees in the North, just 19.2% are in production industries. In Belfast the figure falls to only 9.3%.

Nowhere does production employment top 50% – the area with the biggest base is Magherafelt, Co Derry where 41.5% are employed in production industries.

Northern Ireland is placed seventh in a league of 12 UK regions – where the East Midlands is top with 24% of employees employed in production industries and London bottom with 8.3%.

The union said the situation provides a challenge for the North’s economy as a whole and the incoming Executive in particular, following Monday’s deal between Rev Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams for the DUP and Sinn Féin to enter a power-sharing government in May.

Union general secretary Paul Kenny said: “The historical events must now be a springboard for growth in well-paid jobs and economic stability for the whole of Northern Ireland.

“Everybody is pleased that there has been financial and political progress, but there are many challenges ahead.”

Eammon Coy, GMB senior organiser for the North, added: “This new analysis shows the changing nature of employment in Northern Ireland which mirrors the change in the rest of the UK.

“In Belfast, for example, the proportion of jobs in services is more akin to that in some regions like London and the South East.

“However for Northern Ireland as a whole the picture is more akin to the traditional manufacturing regions of the UK like the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the North West.”

He said the challenge for the North’s economy as a whole was to come up with strategies to replace the well-paid manufacturing jobs that had disappeared with well-paid commercial services jobs.

“That will require all economic agencies including European, national and local government bodies and employers and trade unions working together to develop and implement these strategies.”