I write in response to the article published on Friday 15 November (p15), titled “Invest NI urged to be clear about top appointments”.
This is a story without fact, developed by The Irish News.
There is absolutely no fact to back up the claim that “there is obviously a serious shortage of members from the Catholic community” yet you were still content to publish this. Notwithstanding Invest NI’s legal requirements to comply with General Data Protection Regulations and treat staff personal data as confidential, I fail to see how the religious affiliation of an individual has any bearing on either their appointment or ability to do their job. To make such as assertion harks back to the dark days of Northern Ireland’s past, which is what many have worked hard to move beyond. As a global organisation, Invest NI employs an extremely diverse team of professionals, all appointed purely on merit. In response to the claim that we have been “warned” of the need to be more transparent over senior management appointments, at no time have our employment practices ever been questioned by our trade unions, our sponsor department, the NI Assembly, or any of its committees. And finally, in response to the claim that “Invest NI has flown under the radar of public scrutiny for far too long…” I would like to highlight that I personally meet regularly with elected representatives and sector bodies to give account of our work and performance.
In addition Invest NI reports quarterly to the Department for the Economy, through various channels, including Oversight & Liaison – since 2009, twice yearly reported to the Committee for the Economy (and former ETI Committee) providing detailed updates on Invest NI activities and performance – publishes annual accounts, audited by the Audit Office and annual performance results which are freely available on investni.com – for past six years, publishes data on the companies it is supporting on OpenDataNI.
To read such a negative and divisive article in my final weeks as CEO is more than disappointing, especially the insinuations levelled at me personally.
I am deeply proud of everything Invest NI has achieved in the last 10 years – nearly 42,000 offers of support to almost 11,000 businesses, contributing to £7bn of investment and more than 67,000 new jobs for the local economy.
ALASTAIR HAMILTON
CEO Invest NI
Editor’s note – The claims referenced by Mr Hamilton were contained in a detailed statement from John Dallat MLA, a former chair of the Stormont public accounts committee
DUP biggest barrier to change
What a shame the Peace Wall exhibition has been vandalised. Much of the graffiti relates to claims that Protestant young people are being deliberately kept out of higher education.
According to a CSC report, Education and Religion in Northern Ireland, 35.8 per cent of students who attend Queen’s University identified themselves as Protestant, 50.6 per cent identified themselves as Catholic and 13.6 per cent declared no religious affiliation. At the University of Ulster 45 per cent as Catholic and 27 per cent as Protestant.
The Investigating Links in Achievement and Deprivation Report which was one of the most detailed investigations of its kind, carried out by researchers from Queen’s and Stranmillis University College, found that poor Protestant children don’t do as well as their Catholic counterparts and that the biggest barrier to improving educational outcomes for poor children is academic selection at 11. They called for selection to be scrapped claiming that it ‘reinforces privilege and disadvantage’
It’s been known now for more than 50 years, since the publication of the Coleman Report, that high concentrations of poverty promote poor educational outcomes.
In our educational system these high concentrations of poverty are being fuelled by academic selection where children are sorted more by social background than academic ability.
We know from the International test scores (PISA) that none of the top education systems operate a system of academic selection at 11.
The DUP are the biggest barrier to change. They continue to promote and support selection in the face of all the evidence. You could be forgiven for thinking that they prefer to maintain the status quo and keeping working-class Protestants out of higher education helps to achieve this aim.
JIM CURRAN
Downpatrick, Co Down
Tories should have repealed all laws which offended them
We did not have today’s class of terrorist threat during the 1980s and 1990s. It started after 2001, following the attack on America in 9/11, which then escalated into Afghanistan, then Iraq, followed by Libya and then Syria. During this last adventure we supported these militants that transformed into what we now call Isis, which lead to the sufferings and losses of the civilian population controlled by these thugs. Iraq is still trying to come to terms with our Iraqi Freedom, the same with Libya – still in turmoil following our humanitarian intervention. Leaving these countries to decide their own fate and who should govern them, should go without saying, which would go a long way to stopping these indiscriminate, terrorist acts.
The instigators of these invasions never worry about consequences for their actions, as they are so well protected – mostly at taxpayers’ expense – while the civilian population of the countries affected have no such relief, which was shown once again in this usual violent sequel on London Bridge.
Boris Johnson has had the temerity to blame ‘New’ Labour for introducing a 50 per cent tariff reduction on these convicted terrorists, and others, following a process of de-radicalisation. Please tell me why the Conservative Party, during their time in government, could not repeal all the laws which so offended them?
EDWARD MURPHY
Ballycastle, Co Antrim
Political football
In their rush to approve “choice”, many voters in the Republic’s referendum of May 2018, erroneously (and stupidly), also surrendered the relevant rights of all, under the Constitution.
This passed the right of protecting unborn human life from the public to politicians (of Dáil Éireann). It ensured that all future generations would, in fact, have no choice. Politicians would never pass this power back to the public. Why should they?
And would future voters really be happy about not having a choice, ever again, on this fundamental issue?
To see how this works in practice we need only look at what has just recently occurred in Northern Ireland.
In Westminster, in a vote on budgets and elections in NI, it was decided that abortion would be imposed on the citizens of Northern Ireland.
According to journalist Breda O’Brien – The Irish Times, October 25 2019 – this horrendous legislation was enacted in 17 minutes.
A political football, surely?
DONAL O’DRISCOLL
Blackrock, Co Dublin
