NI Conservatives' chairman and Ballymena businessman, Irwin Armstrong, has described the loss of up to a quarter of the jobs at the engineering company F.G. Wilson as "another blow to Northern Ireland's moribund economy" which the executive is doing "little or nothing to address".
"These redundancies, taking place at one of our top firms, are a terrible blow for the employees and their families", Irwin commented. "I worked with F.G. Wilson, as a consultant, for a number of years and it is desperately sad to see a company, which was such a part of the fabric of three communities here, shed so many jobs. The truth, though, is that it is yet another indication of the mess which the Stormont executive is making of the economy."
"In the rest of the UK employment is increasing, driven by private sector jobs, while in Northern Ireland it is unemployment which is going up rapidly. Meanwhile, Arlene Foster's statements consistently fail to acknowledge how bad the jobs situation really is, and we have Sammy Wilson, the so-called finance minister, waging a one man campaign against potential Corporation Tax cuts, doing his best to discourage inward investment. It seems likely that, had a lower rate been available, F G Wilson would have taken it into consideration in their decision making. The complacency across the executive is completely staggering."
"Northern Ireland desperately needs coherent policies for job creation. A united front on Corporation Tax - which is the possible game-changer for Northern Ireland, finally using powers to create enterprise zones, incentives - like rates relief - to get companies exporting and emergency loans for small and medium companies. Instead politicians from our executive parties hold futile debates about a VAT rate which they have no power to change and actively connive to sabotage any possibility of devolving Corporation Tax."
"As hundreds more jobs are added to the unemployment figures, surely it is time to act. The 'do nothing' attitude from this executive is simply not acceptable. The public wants to see an executive which listens to the needs of business, understands the conditions in which jobs are created and helps companies to get Northern Ireland moving, rather than hindering them. It would break my heart to see more people consigned to the dole queue, because of the continued failure of politicians and the absolute ineptitude of this executive."