A Tale of Two Taytos.

It’s a given. Tayto are the best, tastiest and most loved cheese and onion crisps on planet Earth. All across Ireland we know it, we believe it, and we take it very seriously. Tayto crisps are the taste of home, so much so that there are boxes flown around the world to Irish ex-pats.

But if only life were so simple. Because this being Ireland we need to add the vinegar of a dispute to the story, and you all know what it is. Which Tayto is the best? Northern or Southern?

Being married to a wonderful woman from Dublin this debate is raised often. In a surprising turn of events, as there is no other time when she is wrong. On this topic, she gets an x, not a tick. She has an odd belief in Southern Tayto to this day, even after 25 years of living in Belfast.

But when we move on from the apparent frivolity of the taste of crisps, we get into what is a serious political debate. What happens if there is Irish Unification? Which Tayto will take precedence?

Tayto North and Tayto South have existed side by side for nearly 70 years. There was a licence agreement to use the name in different jurisdictions. The two parts of Ireland were economically separated to the extent that there would be no crossover. Production was in Armagh and Meath. People were employed directly, and business services were used to build the brands, separately. (I had a part to play, creating ad campaigns for Tayto North in the ’90s.) The marketing for Tayto South was managed by Dublin ad agencies, and the North in Belfast. Both cities benefitting from the ad spend, supporting the media and creative elements of marketing.

This takes us to a whole can of worms that the debate about the future of Ireland seems not to have taken seriously. The economy. Of course, there has been talk of the cost of keeping Northern Ireland going in a United Ireland. But that is a top-level discussion, about government and trading bloc responsibilities, not what happens on the ground.

That Northern Ireland has existed is a fact. That Belfast is the regional capital is also a fact, and while there are semantics around if it is or isn’t an actual capital, the fact is that it has had all the attributes of being a capital. It is a business centre, an educational centre, a trading centre, entertainment and a social centre. There are multiple international businesses, as well as large local companies, based in Belfast as it has two airports and local transport infrastructure.

Much of this growth of business services is a result of Northern Ireland having an economy. In the advertising agency I was part of, over 90% of our business was generated within Northern Ireland. Lawyers, accountants, IT developers and more are there to service local businesses, in Belfast and the rest of the six counties. I worked with clients in every part of Northern Ireland, while based in Belfast. We did some business in Dublin, but we were almost invisible, as the Irish agencies were up here too. It wasn;t political, it was simply how things work.

These businesses are the lifeblood of the economy. As of June 2022, there are 578640 jobs in the private sector, with services the fastest growing. The vast majority are SMEs, that is small businesses with not many staff, buying and selling within the largest market for Northern Ireland business, Northern Ireland.

So if we end Partition, what happens?

Do things just continue as before, or will there be a seismic shift in the economy. Advertising agencies in Belfast compete for large government contracts, such as road safety, and health issues. A large government campaign underpins the ability of the agency to employ people to deliver for local businesses, at the right price. Will all the government advertising be managed from Dublin? More than likely. In which case can advertising agencies survive, and if they can’t, where will designers and marketing executives find employment? Where will businesses currently getting their advertising managed in Belfast go, if the agency and media market collapses? The same applies across the service sector, lots of private companies in service industries, but also construction and agrifoods have public sector contracts. What is the plan?

Let’s take another example. Northern Ireland Screen is one of the most successful public sector investments of the past fifty years. Northern Ireland has a film and television industry that has generated over £500 million for the local economy. Young people can actually get work in editing, make-up, acting, props, set design and more. One of the main competitors for projects is Ireland. If we unite, what will happen then? Where will be the favoured film industry? Northern Ireland will no longer exist, so the money will be spread across the island. If there is any money. Why would a government support two screen organisations?

So we end up back at Tayto. Issues that need to be sorted, jobs that are important need retained, services delivered for small companies at prices they can afford. . On a Twitter space the other evening this was dismissed as the “minor things that need to be sorted out” with the major element being the constitution. Minor? Jobs, the economy, business survival and more…

My position is that the health and well-being of real people, in real jobs, with real families, is a lot more important than an identity, or a dream.

Ireland as an island is economically better off with two economies. The solution is total joint sovereignty, and total equality with all the economic benefits that arise from the Protocol being used to create, not a new Ireland, but a new, fresh, dynamic, and prosperous Northern Ireland, with a government in Stormont, a FM from the largest party, an economy based on being the economic gateway to GB and the EU, depending on which way you are trading. Not because I am a Unionist or Nationalist, but because I am not and believe that those are outdated modes of thought.