evidence: - For the majority of its existence, including every year since the 1960s, Northern Ireland has been a net beneficiary of UK funding. [...] The same article also notes research from Professor Bob Rowthorn that indicates Northern Ireland contributed money to the rest of the UK in its first few years of existence. [...] - The subvention has never been assessed on "need"; however, the evidence from Northern Ireland’s economic history, particularly from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, is that there was no need for a subvention until 1929. Northern Ireland’s per capita GDP fell to around 60% of the UK level from then until the Second World War; rose during the war to 70%; and then during the Troubles to 80%.