The director of the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI) has said that businesses in Northern Ireland will not be able to cope with a no-deal Brexit.
Angela McGowan said on Monday that leaving the EU without a deal is not an option for the state’s business sector and “no country in the world will want to invest in Northern Ireland if it is thrown out of Europe.”
McGowan plans to meet with Northern Ireland business leaders and the DUP this week.
The DUP has called Theresa May’s agreement “worse than no deal” and said that their 10 MPs will vote against the proposed EU deal in Parliament next month.
“The DUP has been very clear all along – we have core beliefs and principles and we’re sticking by those,” said DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds.
McGowan hopes to persuade DUP MPs to vote in favour of the proposed deal.
The CBI director said on the possibility of a no-deal Brexit: “All I can do is do my best to put the honest evidence on the table that companies simply cannot cope with no deal.”
“We’re talking about people; neighbours; your relatives being put out of jobs – companies cannot cope with this uncertainty.”
“There is no country in the world [that] will want to invest in Northern Ireland if it is thrown out of Europe, has no access to markets and is in a state of chaos.”
“Nobody would wish that on their own region, so today we will simply be talking about what the business community needs, we hope the politicians listen, she said.
Business leaders in the City of London have also rallied behind the prime minister’s deal, saying a no-deal Brexit would be the worse option and would harm the UK economy.
Stephen Martin, the director general of The Institute of Directors said: “The deal the EU approved today provokes a wide range of reactions across the political spectrum, and indeed among business leaders, but the steer from our members is that avoiding no deal must be the main priority.”
May will warn MPs on Monday that rejecting the Brexit deal will lead to “division and uncertainty”.
