Shopping containers | Photo courtesy of the Port of Felixstowe Construction firms in Northern Ireland are finding Brexit is adding to the UK-wide materials shortage. As per Brexit negotiations, in order to prevent a hard border in Ireland, the UK and EU negotiated for the Northern Ireland Protocol, which kept Northern Ireland within the EU’s single market for goods. Mark Spence, managing director for Construction Employers Federation, which represents firms in the country, claimed it has led to a drop in the sale of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. “It is simply there are more onerous customs requirements for goods traveling across the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland,” he said. “Northern Ireland is a fairly small market [for Great Britain]. The additional burden of administration to access that market is maybe not economically viable for some suppliers in Great Britain.”