Ah Belfast, we love you and at the same time you can be an awful place to live and work. We are usually gripped by a conviction that you are on the right road to economic growth and social stability, and then you let us down. It happens too often. But I’m not giving up on my home town. I never will, and I can offer some context for the mixed reviews above.
Last week the American company HighWire Press made the kind of announcement that makes you think Northern Ireland is well-placed to take advantage of emerging high-tech IT jobs. That firm, with Invest NI support, will create 74 jobs with an average salary of £34,000. Earlier in the week another IT firm Ampliphae announced the creation of 20 jobs, again with support from Invest NI, whose delivery in recent years has been excellent and will get even better with increased sales tools coming down the track.
While all kind of investment is welcome (and if back office call centres chose to come here we should embrace them), it is these kind of HighWire Press jobs which are precisely the kind of foreign direct investment we really want and need here. Well paid jobs, requiring highly skilled graduates and likely to attract new residents into the city to take up the roles. The HighWire announcement coincided with the visit to the US by the First and Deputy First Ministers, who put on the kind of joined-up show of partnership to an external audience that we are so lacking from them at home (but that’s another story).
It was interesting to hear the rationale offered by the Silicon Valley-based firm for their decision to choose Belfast as a location. CEO Dan Filby talked about Belfast being a focal point for the firm’s European presence, he singled out our ‘outstanding, abundant talent pool’ as their ‘highest priority when evaluating potential expansion locations.’ There was no mention, in the press release anyhow, of the proposed reduction of corporation tax, though it is safe to assume that was a factor as well.
It shows you that what is achievable when Invest NI and our politicians put our best face forward. Maximising the potential of our EU entry point, our young population and available workforce, and our imminent reduced tax rate, allows us to attract the kind of jobs which will genuinely rebalance our economy.
There are factors in play here which are beyond our control. Should the UK be narrow-minded enough to vote to leave the EU in June we will have a much less stable or attractive package to offer potential investors. The UK rate of corporation tax is on a downward spiral and by 2020 will reach
17 per cent by 2020. That is informative and indicates an acceptance of the role played by a reduced tax in lifting the economy.
But as Maybeth Shaw of BDO pointed out, in Northern Ireland we are going ‘lower and quicker.’ We will be at 12.5 per cent by 2018 and in four years time we will still be 4.5 per cent lower than GB.
Some other factors which help attract investment are within local control, and I hope, really hope, that the HighWire Press CEO, as he spoke in glowing terms of the talent pool in our universities and colleges, wasn’t watching the scenes in the Holylands last week or the upsetting news of the death of prison officer Adrian Ismay.
I heard some people putting forward a defence of the antics of the students and their friends in the streets off the Ormeau Road, talking about ‘high spirits’ and a ‘small minority.’ Some commentators even said that it has always been this way and what passes for St Patrick’s Day joviality is routine across other Irish towns and cities. Nonsense.
Maybe the ability to form a street long human rowing boat, confront police, abuse the national flag and debase normal life for two days and nights are on the job spec for inward investment companies, but I doubt it. And those scenes represent the very worst of our young talent pool.
It wasn't too long ago that I was a student at Queen’s and we loved St Patrick’s Day, and had a great day each year. That typically meant hanging around the Students Union, taking in whatever bands were playing and yes, having a few pints, usually until late into the night. Then, next day, it was up, balancing a sore head and a light wallet, and back into class. The culture which has now come to represent St Patrick’s Day in the Holylands isn't acceptable and shouldn’t be seen as such and shouldn’t be explained away in those terms. A police and political response is required, and quickly.
Thankfully there are better representation of our young students to be seen on the same day, in schools sporting finals across all codes, in inclusive drink-free celebrations in places like Fitzroy Church and Shaftesbury Community Centre. They don't attract the same level of media attention, but they are there.
So a mixed week for Belfast and Northern Ireland, but I’m still looking on the bright side of the road - even if it is tempting to sometimes avert my eyes.
:: Brendan Mulgrew is managing partner of MW Advocate. Twitter: @brendanbelfast.
:: Next week: Angela McGowan
