Government ministers will on Thursday play host to Northern Ireland’s ”largest ever trade mission to Dublin” aimed at capitalising on the North’s unique post-Brexit trading position.
Trade NI, an alliance of three of the North’s largest trade bodies — Hospitality Ulster, Manufacturing Northern Ireland and Retail Northern Ireland — will lead a 100-strong delegation of business leaders to Dublin to highlight “Northern Ireland’s bright prospects to potential investors”.
The delegation will also use the occasion to launch a report, setting out a new economic strategy for the North, which now enjoys dual access to both the EU and UK markets.
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The trade mission, however, comes against a backdrop of political deadlock in the North with the government institutions still boycotted by the largest unionist party, the Democratic Unionist Party.
The delegation will first meet Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Government Buildings before being hosted by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin at an event in Iveagh House, Dublin.
Mr Martin was responsible for inviting the delegation to Dublin.
A key focus of the delegation’s report — entitled, A Region Transformed and Creating Prosperity for All. Northern Ireland The Prosperity Dividend — is on increasing investment in the private sector to reduce the dependence on the public sector in Northern Ireland, which stands at 27 per cent, above the UK regional average of 18 per cent.
Peace dividend
Some 1,200 foreign-owned companies have a presence in Northern Ireland, with more than 70 per cent planning to make further investments, the report notes.
“This is a blueprint for economic growth and prosperity for Northern Ireland. Over the last 25 years, Northern Ireland has enjoyed the benefits of a peace dividend. Over the next 10 years, the focus should be a prosperity dividend,” said chief executives of Trade NI, Glyn Roberts (Retail NI), Colin Neill (Hospitality Ulster) and Stephen Kelly (Manufacturing NI), in a joint statement.
“Northern Ireland has vast untapped potential. We have demographics on our side with approximately 40 per cent of our population under the age of 40,” they said.
“We have a skilled workforce, a steady pipeline of talent from our higher and further education institutions, dual market access to the UK and the EU, and emerging clusters in new industries like tech, cybersecurity, health and life sciences. But there is so much more we can achieve if we get the fundamental building blocks in place,” they said.
Brian Murphy, managing partner of business advisory firm BDO Northern Ireland, said: “Northern Ireland has been on a transformative journey over the last 25 years. We have witnessed the expansion of new sectors such as renewable energy, legal services, film and television and we believe even better days lie ahead.”
