“We are not starting from zero. Co-operation already exists – what is needed now is scale, structure and support.” – Colette O’Sullivan, CEO Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Chamber of Commerce
“Infrastructure plays a key role —but from a business perspective, it is about reliability and access. When connections work, partnerships grow!” – Frank Shivers, CEO Bangor Chamber of Commerce
Joint Presentation to the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement on April 21st, 2026
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Chamber & Bangor Chamber of Commerce
The joint presentation sets out a shared, business-led perspective on cross-border cooperation across the island of Ireland.
Businesses are already working across borders every day—trading, employing talent, and building partnerships. The opportunity now is for policy and infrastructure to support and scale what is already happening.
*The statement from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Chamber and Bangor Chamber of Commerce on April 21st, 2026 to the committee, can be seen below.
What Does Our Presentation Highlight?
An all-island economy is already in operation, but practical barriers remain.
These include:
- Differences in systems and processes
- Gaps in transport and connectivity
- Infrastructure including water
- Missed opportunities to better link talent and enterprise
From a business perspective, the priority is clear:
make it easier to work together.
What Are Our Key Priorities in our opening statement?
From a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdowns perspective, one of the country’s most internationally connected economic regions, we see firsthand how interconnected our economy already is with Northern Ireland.
Many of our members:
- Work with suppliers and clients across Northern Ireland
- Employ people who move across the island regularly
- Operate on the basis of an all-island economy, even where systems do not yet fully reflect that reality
However, practical barriers still arise – not large political obstacles, but everyday friction that impacts how businesses operate and from a business perspective, the ask is straightforward: Make it easier to work together.
That includes:
- Supporting joint initiatives between Chambers and business networks North and South
- Investing in shared innovation and enterprise programmes, enabling companies to collaborate organically
- Ensuring funding is accessible for partnership-led and SME-driven projects, not solely large standalone schemes
- Support research-led, data-driven investment to inform decision making and drive sustainable economic growth
- Leverage the tourism and cruise economy to enhance the visitor experience by showcasing regional identity through local enterprise, heritage, and hospitality, creating curated and authentic experiences for those visiting both North and South.
We are not starting from zero. Co-operation already exists – what is needed now is scale, structure and support.
What Are Our Key Priorities in our closing statement?
The Good Friday Agreement created the conditions for cooperation. With the right support, it can go further. What we are seeing now is the next phase—cooperation being driven by business, day to day, through relationships, projects and shared opportunity. Our message is clear:
- Support collaboration between Chambers and business networks
- Invest in shared innovation and enterprise programmes
- Ensure funding is accessible to SMEs and partnerships
- Strengthen east coast connectivity
- Invest in connections—between people, places, and businesses
- Back partnerships that come from the ground up
- Support the Dublin–Bangor corridor as a shared driver of growth
We welcome the opportunity to continue engaging with the Committee on how Chambers can support implementation in practical business-led ways. If these conditions are in place, the economic benefits will follow naturally.
*The full statement from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Chamber and Bangor Chamber of Commerce on April 21st, 2026, can be found on the Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement page here.
*Full session is available here and starts 31 minutes into the link here
