NI waits for Brown

Very interesting article by Henry McDonald yesterday on the implications of a Gordon Brown premiership for Northern Ireland:

The trouble for both the DUP and Sinn Féin is that no one really knows what Mr Brown thinks about Northern Ireland. He was present at a series of set piece visits by Mr Blair before and after the signing of the Good Friday agreement, including the announcement of a major aid package for the province. But then the chancellor and the prime minister were accompanied by the yesterday’s men of the Irish peace process – the Nobel peace prize winners John Hume and David Trimble.

Given his legendary economic prudence Mr Brown will inherit a province that is the UK’s version of East Germany after the fall of the Berlin wall. Britain props up Northern Ireland with a huge annual subsidy of approximately £1.5bn. The public sector is still the largest employer. (Guardian)