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NEWTON'S OPTIC:AS FOREIGN affairs spokesman for the Portadown Unionist Party, I would like to thank the Irish Government for inviting us to make this pre-budget submission. We were a little surprised to be asked, but we are always happy to assist our neighbours in a spirit of mutual respect, writes NEWTON EMERSON

As I understand it, the Republic needs to find immediate annual savings of €4 billion. Using standard investment criteria, this equates to a net present value of €70 billion. If the Republic could sell something for €70 billion, it would be as good as saving €4 billion a year forever. We suggest that this something should be the county of Donegal.