Alliance East Belfast Assembly candidate Tim Morrow has said Northern Ireland is stronger as part of the EU, as the European referendum campaign officially kicked off.
Councillor Morrow said Northern Ireland, as well as the wider UK, benefited from its membership of the organisation, as both the Remain and Leave campaigns began to officially set out their arguments ahead of the June 23 poll.
He said: “We receive much more in terms of structural and cohesion funds from the EU than we put in. In addition, we continue to benefit in a host of other ways economically from the trade barriers which have been brought down across Europe and which a Brexit would put at risk.
“While Alliance will campaign to remain in the EU, we are also not blind to the reforms needed. With too much power held at the Council and Commission, the EU Parliament needs to be strengthened.
“But a Brexit would be a disaster for not only the farming industry of which I am a part of, but for the entirety of Northern Ireland. Supporters of Brexit such as the DUP, which claims to be a friend to business and the agriculture industry among others, has got this badly wrong.”
