BELFAST BRIEFING:It's past time for political leaders to come good on their economic promises for Northern Ireland, writes FRANCESS MCDONNELL

WILL THE right to march down a road or a new approach to the Irish language in the North save a job or pay a mortgage? Will a deal over policing and justice stop US companies pulling out and relocating jobs and investment back to the United States?

It is unlikely, unless it comes with a magic wand and fairy godmother, and Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness are not exactly fairytale material.

Thousands in the North are unable to find work, hundreds of jobs are under threat and yet the most important issue for local political leaders remains squabbling about their differences.

The US special economic envoy to the North, Declan Kelly, has warned that the latest bout of political instability could have a serious impact on Northern Ireland’s ability to attract substantial new US investment. Kelly believes the North’s economic future is at stake and has urged politicians not to derail the opportunity to secure the prosperity they promised when the Executive was restored.

With due respect to Kelly, we have heard all this before in the North. As usual, the only people who appear not to be listening are the political leaders.

Last week, as two US companies – Avaya and Baker Hughes – confirmed reviews of Northern Irish operations, which might see either or both pull out with the loss of 400 jobs, political leaders from the DUP and Sinn Féin were locked in Hillsborough Castle fighting over the small print of an agreement on policing and justice and parades.

Where was the North’s Minister for Enterprise, Arlene Foster, when this latest economic crisis unfolded?

Foster, who is also the acting First Minister in Northern Ireland, is part of the senior DUP negotiating team involved in the discussions about the devolution of policing and justice.

Trade unions in the North have raised serious questions about Foster’s and her department’s attitudes to Avaya. The US-based group acquired the former Nortel enterprise solutions division in Monkstown just last month. At the time, Foster said Avaya’s acquisition was “extremely positive news” for Nortel and its workers at Monkstown.

The Minister and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Deti) welcomed the acquisition and detailed how it would result in “40 per cent of the Monkstown workforce” or roughly 140 people transferring to Avaya with “immediate effect”.

What recently transpired is that Avaya has begun a “consultation process” that could see the Monkstown operation shut down.

Trade union Unite it is astonished that the Department of Enterprise was completely unaware of this development.

In response to suggestions by trade unions that the Minister and the Deti were “out of touch” with what is happening on the ground at Avaya, Deti would say only that “Invest NI is still in contact with the company in America”.

It hardly inspires confidence and that is the essence of the latest challenge facing businesses in the North. New research from PricewaterhouseCoopers this week shows Northern Ireland is less confident than any other region in the UK about its economic prospects.

Compared to other parts of the UK, business confidence in Northern Ireland is remarkably poor. PwC managing partner in Northern Ireland, Hugh Crossey, said. “This reflects the region’s steepest decline in house prices of all the UK regions, coupled with a large rise in unemployment and fears for political stability.

“There is concern in the business community about political events in Northern Ireland and particularly that the Executive is not focused on the economy and the hard choices necessary to drive recovery.”

Political leaders from every party need to wake up to the new economic realities of life. Political leadership in Northern Ireland should no longer be about pandering to the loyalties of the past, or securing re-election – it should be about building the North’s economic future.

People in Northern Ireland need jobs, they want to be able to pay their bills and not worry about what next month will bring.

That is what Martin McGuinness, Peter Robinson and their parties must deliver on: the rest is just window dressing. It is past time for political leaders to come good on their economic promises for Northern Ireland.