The cost of Irish unity for southern taxpayers “would be huge”, the ESRI has predicted. 

A new report by the organisation has found that there is a significantly larger number of people in Northern Ireland who pay less tax than they receive in public spending than there are in the Republic. 

Around 80% of people in the North are net beneficiaries, while in the South that figure falls to half of the population. 

On The Hard Shoulder, ESRI research affiliate John Fitzgerald said the figures reveal how dependent the British economy is on wealth generated in London. 

“Where does the money come from? The money comes from London,” he said. 

“In Northern Ireland, income tax brings in only £6 billion and the cost of welfare is £9 billion. 

“In the Republic, we bring in about €41 billion and we pay out about €35 billion, so there’s something left over from income tax to pay for civil servants and roads and so on.”

Irish unity

Professor Fitzgerald described regional inequality as a normal phenomenon in countries across the world and noted the West of Ireland is significantly poorer than Dublin. 

However, he said a united Ireland would face some hard choices on tax and spending. 

“The cost of taking on Northern Ireland would be huge because of this huge transfer,” he said. 

“Don’t look down at the North because of the transfer - this is normal in big countries. 

“If you look at Germany, there are poor regions like Brandenburg and they get a load of money from the richer regions - that’s normal. 

“The West of Ireland gets a load - and we never talk about that because we think that’s normal.” 

A British flag flies next to an Irish Tricolour at Government Buildings in Dublin. Picture by: Brian O'Leary/RollingNews.ie

Last year, the British Government agreed, as part of a financial package to persuade the DUP to return to power sharing, that for every £1 of public spending in England, Northern Ireland would receive £1.24. 

However, Professor Fitzgerald said Stormont should evaluate what it spends this largesse on. 

“Are they using it wisely?” he said. 

“Could they actually make people lower down the income distribution better off by taking some from the people who are better off? 

“They do have scope for changing things.” 

The Good Friday Agreement states that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should organise a border poll if “at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.”

In July, Hillary Benn said there is “no evidence” the threshold of support for unity has been met.

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Main image: A sign at the edge of a road near the border. Picture by: Alamy.com