In recent articles, I’ve written about the need to build a strong, balanced economy in the North West, supported by skills, infrastructure and local enterprise. A key part of that is recognising how our region already works in practice, something I have seen first-hand over many years through family connections with Donegal.

Here in the North West, working across the border is not something designed to tick a box or unlock funding. It is a lived reality. For many, the border does not define how we live or work. It is simply part of the place we share.

Every day, people cross the border to work, study and do business. Employers recruit from both sides, and students move easily across it to learn. Colleges and universities are working together, through the North West Tertiary Education Cluster, to build skills and opportunity. This is not a future ambition. It is how the North West works.

Recently, in preparing evidence for the Oireachtas Committee on the impact of the Good Friday Agreement, we reflected on how integrated our local economy already is. Through our work with Letterkenny and Causeway Chambers, we see daily how businesses operate across what is, in practice, a shared market.

But working across the border is not the challenge. The challenge is ensuring it works effectively in practice. Too often, differences in how things are done create unnecessary complexity. Addressing that should not be about politics. It is about making it easier to live, work and do business across the region.

Connectivity is critical. Too often, infrastructure planning still stops at the border, despite how people actually live and work. Infrastructure should be planned and delivered in a way that supports how our region already moves and works.

A strong, connected North West benefits everyone. More than 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, real progress has been made here, but we have more to do. Our message is clear: recognise how this region already works, remove the barriers that hold us back, and back our region with the infrastructure and investment needed to support growth. We must continue to step forward with confidence and ambition. What matters now is delivery.

– Steven Lindsay, President Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.