BELFAST BRIEFING:THERE WERE more than 9,000 new cars registered in Northern Ireland towards the end of last year. Chances are not many of those shiny, new cars are parked outside houses in north Belfast today.

Economic analysts suggest that new car sales are linked to levels of consumer confidence; if you are in a town or city where there are a lot of shiny new cars, then it would suggest the local economy and the people who live in the area are doing well.

North Belfast has one of the worst rates of unemployment in Northern Ireland; it suffered one of the worst murder rates during the Troubles and in the past has recorded an above-average suicide rate.

Schools in the area try hard but educational achievements, particularly when it comes to secondary level, generally leave a lot to be desired and studies show that drug, alcohol and substance abuse is a major problem among the area's young residents. If any area deserves to get a share of any peace dividend, this is it.

But the statistics taken at face value do not paint the complete picture - what is missing is the human element and that is why, despite the odds, north Belfast today boasts one of the most successful small business parks in the North.

The North City Business Centre straddles a peace line in the north inner city between New Lodge and Tigers Bay.

Fifteen years ago when the centre first opened its doors to entrepreneurs and fledgling small firms, no one really rated its chances of surviving.

It seemed crazy to create a purpose-built business park in what was effectively no man's land, a space of ground contested by two warring communities intent on destroying not only each other, but also whatever limited economic potential that then existed.

But North City created an ethos that insisted that political beliefs and allegiances were left outside the gate.

The business centre existed to help people - primarily from the local area - who wanted to "take their business ideas and turn them into reality". Its site at a sectarian interface was just a matter of location.

During some of the most violent clashes during flare-ups in the past in north Belfast, people turned up for work everyday at North City and regardless of what was going on outside the walls of the centre and simply got on with business.

Today North City is home to 42 tenants, from the innovative biometrics software technology company Core Systems to the UK & Ireland franchise headquarters of New York City Nails.

A major extension was recently opened at the centre, which now supports nearly 700 jobs both on site and off.

The extension will provide 10 new units, which translates into about 1,115sq m (12,000sq ft) of business space, which in turn could mean a further 100 jobs at the centre in the future.

Alice Quinn, chief executive of North City, says both sides of the community have embraced the concept of the centre and she believes it has helped build bridges between them.

"When this centre first opened businesses probably viewed this as not the most desirable area to be in, but all that has changed now the Troubles have all but gone - we are in the perfect location for easy access to the M1, M2, M3 motorways, the seaport and the airports.

"There were people at the start who may have doubted that the centre would be a success, but now businesses are saying to us what a great place this is to locate in."

According to Quinn the fact the centre is almost at 100 per cent occupancy speaks for itself, but she believes that her job does not just stop there. Her philosophy is that the centre must continue to act as a catalyst for local economic regeneration.

"If you look around north Belfast you see an area of high unemployment; there is a major benefits dependency culture - a lot of people are on incapacity benefits - and what we want to do here is give people the chance to see that they can earn their own money.

"At the moment 30 per cent of people are supporting the other 70 per cent of people economically in north Belfast . . . and if we want that to change we have got to show people that there are other options such as self-employment."

She says areas such as north Belfast cannot afford to wait for big inward investors to come and create jobs - they have to take charge of their own economic destinies.

"We have got to encourage indigenous businesses and anyone regardless of their skills or their educational or economic background needs to believe that they can create opportunities for themselves."

According to Quinn there is more than a healthy interest in enterprise and self-employment in north Belfast - people want to succeed, now all they need is to be given the chance.