A tumbling dollar and warnings about a weakening US economy cast a shadow yesterday over an ambitious attempt to attract a new wave of US investment to Northern Ireland.
Senior British and Irish politicians were on hand in New York to launch an 11-city tour which, according to one, was intended to "rebrand" the North as a place of new-found peace and future prosperity. They included Mr Gordon Brown, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Dr Mo Mowlam, the Northern Ireland secretary, Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon.
Mr Adam Ingram, the Northern Ireland minister responsible for security and the economy, said the short-term dislocation should not hamper efforts to drum up fresh investment from US companies, which had already created 14,000 jobs in the North.
"Companies have medium and long-term planning horizons," he said.
The pressure building on some big US companies, however, may make them less willing to consider investments.
Mr John Mitchell, vice chairman of Motorola, said: "Our own situation would prohibit us from opening up to new clients. We're more in the mode of slowing down."
