The pharmaceutical industry is one sector in Northern Ireland that is currently thriving. Brian Walker, vice-president of CSS Galen, a company that specialises in providing services to the pharmaceutical sector, notes that there is huge demand for qualified staff in the pharmaceutical sector.

"Synthetic organic chemists and analytical chemists are definitely in demand. Business is booming, and if anything there is a shortage of suitably qualified people. In the pharmaceutical industry innovations and new discoveries means that the pace of change is rapid: however, this does not mean that if you have been out of the workforce for a prolonged period that you cannot re-enter the workforce. Enticing people back into the workforce would address the shortfall of staff. If someone has the basic skills to do a job they can easily be trained up to keep abreast with recent changes."

Mr Walker believes that the economy in Northern Ireland has never been so sound: " I have been living and working in Northern Ireland for 33 years now and I have never seen the economy so buoyant. As the political situation stabilised investment grew, this in turn led to the growth of industry and in particular the service sectors. IT, agrichemicals and electronics are particularly vibrant sectors at the moment."

Brian Walker believes that the current prosperity will continue despite certain sectors suffering setbacks. "Certain sectors such as the telecommunications industry have suffered setbacks. However, I do not believe that this is unique to Northern Ireland, it is industry wide phenomenon and will in the long-term recover when the whole sector improves."