AROUND 20,000 of Northern Ireland's long term unemployed should be encouraged to join a new jobs programme with an additional £50 a week on top of benefits, according to a report by Prof David Donnison of Edinburgh University.

Prof Donnison also advocated the creation of a jobs forum to tackle unemployment.

He said Northern Ireland could become one of the fastest growing economies in western Europe if closer links with the Republic were established.

The proportion of the total Northern Ireland workforce without work for more than three years stands at 3.7 per cent, compared with 1.1 per cent in Britain as a whole.