E&I visit prompts calls for greater certainty over post-Brexit trading

Sinn Féin MLA Karen Mullan has said border companies like E+I Engineering at Burnfoot need more certainty about the post-Brexit trading environment.

She made the comments after visiting the plant with Pádraig Mac Lochlainn T.D.

She said: “We got a tour of the factory and met with the owner Philip O’Doherty. E+I is one of the region’s biggest employers sitting on the border with 1,200 employees at the Burnfoot site and 200 employees in Derry, with a breakdown of the workforce being 60% from Derry and 40% the Inishowen area.

“We viewed health and safety measures at the plant. The company has taken a number of steps to ensure the safety of their staff in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We walked around the factory, saw what is produced there and heard concerns of the impact of COVID and Brexit on our local economy across the border in the NW region.”

The visit took place as Britain declined to request a Brexit extension making a hard Brexit more likely.

“The reckless British government Brexit policy has created huge uncertainty for the business community in the border area and across the island. Businesses need certainty on how they are going to be able to trade post-Brexit and need assurances the impact and cost of this disastrous policy which is being foisted upon us will be minimised,” she said.