US-Irish research alliance to be extended

THE GLOW of Tuesday’s Northern Ireland Investment Conference carried over to yesterday’s celebration of the four-year-old Research and Development Partnership between Ireland, North and South, and the US, and an aerospace promotion event hosted by Invest Northern Ireland.

The conference itself was the culmination of 13 months’ work by Declan Kelly, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s economic envoy to Northern Ireland. Mr Kelly said the meeting, which brought together 16 leading US investors in Northern Ireland and potential US investors, was the most rewarding event of his career.

“The reason why it was rewarding,” Mr Kelly said, “was because I could look down at the table and see people like Steve Luczo, who runs Seagate and who flew from California to be at the table for three or four hours; Ed Breen from Tyco, a multibillion-dollar company; Tom Wilson from Allstate, Chicago; Ted Kelly from Liberty Mutual, Boston. And I could go on and on and on.

“All corners of America were represented, and they came and they sat there for an entire day and they rolled up their sleeves and they gave us a powerhouse performance.”

NI First Minister Peter Robinson called the conference “unparalleled”. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said it was “absolutely magical”. Minister for Employment Reg Empey said it was “without question the most efficient, effective, and I believe the most profitable engagement” he has seen in nearly two decades.

The same leaders, along with the the Republic’s Minister of State for Development Peter Power, reunited yesterday at a breakfast reception hosted by the Northern Ireland Bureau and the Irish Embassy to celebrate the US-Ireland Research Development Partnership.

Scientists in the both parts of Ireland and the US are co-operating in advanced research into cystic fibrosis, diabetes, sensor technology and nanotechnology.

Mr Robinson announced that the scientific co-operation is being extended to two further areas: telecommunications and energy sustainability.

Mr Power said the partnership was “a wonderful example of what comes after the peace process”.

Invest Northern Ireland then brought together nine NI firms that specialise in highly specific aerospace metallics, plastics, stress engineering, engine-casing systems and design, and four large US aerospace companies: Honeywell, Parker Hannifin, Pratt Whitney and Spirit Aerosystems.

Mr Robinson said aerospace employs more than 8,000 people in Northern Ireland and accounts for 11 per cent of the North’s exports. The Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier is the largest single direct investor in the North, with new investments of more than $770 million about to create 800 new jobs.

Speakers emphasised Northern Ireland’s unique aerospace expertise. Half of the world’s business-class seats and one-third of all aircraft seats are made in Kilkeel, Co Down, by B/E Aerospace. Most ejector seats in fighter aircraft are made by Langford.

The University of Ulster has pioneered the use of former linen looms for the weaving of carbon fibres and other composite materials used in aircraft and wind turbines.