Major efforts to boost cross-Border co-operation, including the creation of common corporation taxes and combined infrastructural planning, should be introduced quickly, the SDLP has said.
Under the plan, Northern Ireland's corporation tax rate would fall to the Republic's 12.5 per cent rate, while companies trading on both sides of the Border would be able to select one administration to deal with.
The "North-South Makes Sense" campaign has been launched because of the party's belief that North-South co-operation had suffered more than anything else from the collapse of Northern Ireland's political institutions.
"North-South co-operation threatens no one and could benefit everyone," the SDLP's leader, Mark Durkan said in Dublin. "It is on that common-sense basis that we put forward North-South plans that are reasonable as well as radical. Not as a way of whipping up unionist fears or stirring up nationalist emotions."
A common corporation tax rate for the whole island would be opposed by the British treasury, but it has accepted the creation of differing rates for minor taxes within the United Kingdom on a number of occasions over recent years.
The alternative tax reliefs available in Northern Ireland, such as marketing grants and research and development, did not have "the same straightforward headline attraction".
The SDLP demand for corporation tax cuts are supported by members of the business community from both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland, from companies trading on both sides of the Border and by potential inward investors.
Cross-Border workers should be able to nominate one administration in which to pay income tax and national insurance, rather than having to cope with the existing difficulties.
Specialist health services, including those available to young people afflicted with an alcohol or drug addiction, should also be run on a cross-Border basis.
On crime, the SDLP document said criminals should not be to allowed to exploit the Border, as so many of them currently do, with smuggling and fuel laundering.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in the Republic and the Asset Recovery Agency in Northern Ireland should be amalgamated, according to the SDLP.
"This would mean an end to the bureaucratic difficulties caused by the limitations on the powers of the ARA at present [ they can only handle cases passed on to them by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)]. It would also allow better targeting of cross-Border crime.
"The CAB believes that approximately 35 per cent of its work has a cross-Border dimension. Furthermore, the SDLP has called for the creation of an all-Ireland intelligence agency employing gardaí and PSNI detectives."
The SDLP document has come at a time when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain have all emphasised the need for greater North-South co-operation.
Speaking in Derry last April, Mr Cowen said that the "combined spend on infrastructure on this island, North and South, over the next 10 years could be of the order of €90-€100 billion. That is a possibility of potentially profound significance.
"Surely, it makes the most basic sense that we should pool our thinking, planning and resources to ensure that the potential of this unprecedented opportunity for the future is maximised to the full?"
The Government has already invested some money into the development of Derry Airport on the grounds that it is of use to people living in Co Donegal.
