North Leaders Stump for U.S. Business

Irish Voice News

North Leaders Stump for U.S. Business

December 5, 2007

By Debbie McGoldrick

HISTORY was made in New York this week when Northern Ireland’s First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness made their first joint trip to the U.S. since forming a power-sharing government in the North in May.

Paisley and McGuinness, once bitter adversaries, met a host of business and political leaders in New York on Monday and Tuesday in an effort to drum up U.S. investment in the North. Among those they met with were Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon, who is considering opening a golf resort in the North, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who confirmed that he would visit Northern Ireland in 2008.

The message delivered by the ministers was a unified one – Northern Ireland is open for business, and anything that can be done to encourage U.S. investment will be done.

“This has been a great trip, a very important trip, for us,” McGuinness told the Irish Voice on Monday night at the Irish Consulate, where he attended a reception for the visiting Irish all-star hurling teams. “Everything has gone very well, and we’ve gotten a great reception all around.”

Paisley and McGuinness started their day on Monday at the New York Stock Exchange, where they held meetings with a number of business officials at an event hosted by the American Ireland Fund. Paisley invited those he spoke with that “the best way to see (the North) is to visit it.”

The ministers were also presented with a pair of bull and bear bookends. “We don’t intend to enter into a bull fight. We’ve had a bellyful of that,” laughed Paisley.

“This display of courageous leadership and unity of purpose by two politicians from different points of the political spectrum in Northern Ireland deserves more than our praise. It deserves our active support as it makes the most compelling case for U.S. investment in Northern Ireland,” said Ireland Fund Chairman Loretta Brennan Glucksman.

After touring the Stock Exchange, Paisley and McGuinness then traveled to City Hall for a meeting with Bloomberg, who put on the record his “enormous respect for what the two of you have done to pull people together.”

McGuinness issued an invitation for Bloomberg to visit Northern Ireland next year, and the mayor stated that he would be “happy” to take up the offer.

“This has been a very worthwhile meeting and, hopefully, has gone some way to demonstrate why it is worthwhile for the U.S. to invest with us. The economy is central to developing a peaceful, fair and prosperous society, the U.S. is a hugely important market. We look forward to welcoming Mayor Bloomberg and his colleagues to Stormont in the near future,” McGuinness said.

Monday afternoon was spent at a luncheon hosted by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and its chairman, Bill Flynn. After that event Paisley and McGuinness held a series of private meetings with business leaders.

On Tuesday, the leaders were guests at a luncheon hosted by the Northern Ireland Bureau at the New York Athletic Club. Also during the course of the day, Paisley made contact with Trump, whose application for a luxury golf resort in Scotland was just denied. Plans are now afoot for Trump to relocate the development in Northern Ireland.

On Wednesday morning, Paisley and McGuinness will ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ exchange, and afterwards will travel to Washington, D.C., where a number of events are planned until Friday, including a White House meeting with President Bush.

On Thursday they will have lunch with members of the House. The event is being hosted by Congressmen James Walsh and Richie Neal. Later in the day they will meet with Senate leaders at an event organized by Senator Edward Kennedy, and also visit with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

The trip will conclude on Friday afternoon, after a mid-morning meeting with President Bush at the White House.

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