The financial package for Northern Ireland announced yesterday by Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Gordon Brown, is worth £315 million. The package, the largest ever announced by a minister for the region, is aimed at modernising the Northern Ireland economy and underpinning the agreement reached on Good Friday.
"Having created a framework for peace, we can now create a framework for prosperity," Mr Brown told a gathering of politicians and business people in Belfast. His visit, to announce the details of the new economic strategy, was the first by a serving Chancellor in 18 years.
The economic strategy aims to encourage employment by supporting enterprise and promoting investment. It includes a £150 million fund for investment in the transport network, housing and schools. Of this, £21 million will be allocated to a Northern Ireland innovation and tourism fund, including £10 million for a new science park.
This will be partly funded from the sale of Belfast Port, which will be transferred to the private sector by a placed flotation. A private/public company will be formed, with the retention by the UK government of a golden share in the new company.
A further £100 million has been allocated for a Northern Ireland Enterprise Fund to cover tax relief for investment in plant and machinery by small and medium-sized firms. Every pound invested in the coming four years will be fully offset against tax and wholly tax-deductible.
About 99 per cent of businesses in the North are expected to benefit from this, including the tourism and service industries.
Some £65 million is being put into a Northern Ireland Employment and Skills Fund, including £42 million to help the long-term unemployed.
Mr Brown also announced that he would join the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, in a 10-city tour of the US in the autumn to promote the North as a key area for investment.
He said the initiatives were not a shopping list dreamed up in a few days to tide Northern Ireland over the next few months. "It is a strategy that has been developed over many months that offers the prospect of prosperity for many years."
Nor was the package conditional on a Yes vote in the referendum on the agreement, although he noted that the measures announced yesterday would be all the more successful if there was peace and stability.
The move was generally welcomed in political circles, although campaigners for a No vote described it as "a bribe".
The business community gave a warm welcome. "The package is both comprehensive and strategically targeted - all sectors and all areas will benefit," said Mr Chris Gibson, chairman of the Confederation of British Industry in the North.