THE Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (NIIRTA) has once again called upon the Union Flag protests and rioting to end immediately given the damage being done to the local economy.
NIIRTA Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said:xa0“Once again we make a plea for the protests and all rioting to end. The disruption to traders not just in Belfast City Centre, but in East Belfast is becoming extremely serious”
“Many of the areas in East Belfast are crying out for new jobs and private sector investment which is not going to happen while on-going rioting and violence continue.”
“Given that 2013 is a vital year for Northern Ireland to attract more Foreign Direct Investment and Tourism, scenes of rioting being sent across the world by the many international media is doing real damage to the reputation of Northern Ireland”
“This is a political problem and can only be resolved by politics and we would urge all of our political leaders to go the extra mile to resolve the Flag issue and other grievances and above all to take this problem off the street”
“The bottom line in all of this is that political stability and greater progress on the Shared Future agenda are essential for sustained economic development”
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