Leaner all-island economy vital, says Kenny

ALL-ISLAND ACTION is needed to eliminate waste and reduce duplication in the public services, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

In an interview in the annual Journal of Cross Border Studies, Mr Kenny warned that care must be taken to safeguard peace in the North.

Improving the all-island economy was vital, he said.

“While you have got peace at a political level . . . there is always the need for vigilance in communities, because unemployment or lack of facilities can aggravate tensions. That is why the strengthening of the economy is so important.”

He told the journal’s editor, Andy Pollak, who runs the Centre for Cross-Border Studies, a more effective public service throughout the island was needed.

“Given that people North and South all have the same challenges . . . we need to get our island economy in a strong shape.”

He said that meant elimination of waste, paring down duplication and having a lean professional “public service machine” that respects the personality of the people of the North and South.

Mr Kenny said the Coalition’s aim was to create a prosperous Republic and Northern Ireland, where people were working at job and career opportunities in their own location, and “as a consequence you continue to build the peace between communities”.