evidence: History [edit]Up until the Great Depression in the 1930s, Northern Ireland ran an annual surplus, and was a net contributor to the UK exchequer. It has run a deficit every year since 1966; that year the deficit was £52 million (£973 million in 2014 pounds). In absolute terms, the subsidy peaked in the 2009–10 fiscal year, when it stood at £11.5 billion in 2014 pounds.[3] [...] The subsidy paid to Northern Ireland is larger than the net amount of £8.9 billion that the United Kingdom paid to the European Union annually before Brexit.[5][2] Irish academic Liam Ó Ruairc described Northern Ireland as "dependent upon British financial subsidies".[6] [...] - ^ Keep, Matthew (24 June 2019). "The UK's contribution to the EU budget". Retrieved 22 April 2020.