The famous 1970s American actor, Tele Savalas, used to say, Who
loves ya, baby?
As we reflect on President Bidens visit to Northern Ireland, we
might recall the splash of America glitz and affection that cheered
our damp and cloudy Easter break.
Or we might have gotten a little carried away with the
Americanisms of the land of the free or our distant relatives on
the other side of the pond.
He might not have said these exact words but you get the gist. I
certainly took from what he said to be warm, well meaning and
encouraging.
Whatever our impressions of this historic Presidential visit, it
majored on the potential economic opportunities for Northern
Ireland but on the condition that we all play ball and restore
power-sharing at Stormont.
President Biden said that peace and economic opportunity go
together and urged local politicians to resolve their
differences to help realise the enormous economic potential of
this region.
Peace and economic success may also be interwoven into our
reconciliation process. Afterall, if we can harmoniously work and
trade together and agree a joint economic vision for our future
surely it makes everything else work a little easier?
President Biden is also famous for citing poetry in his
speeches, so if I may offer my own economic analogy though the
verses of Robert Frosts poem The Road Not Taken.
Frost wrote, Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry
I could not travel both.
Relating this poetic verse to the out-workings of Brexit, and
now the Windsor Framework, may be a little farfetched but these
issues have also presented us with choices about our future.
However, in our case the EU and UK have jointly confirmed that
Northern Ireland, in terms of trading, can have your cake and
eat it. We simply do not need to choose which road to travel;
we can journey along both routes and reap all the benefits!
You may say, thats great, but which of these roads is the most
important to Northern Ireland?
I would argue that both are. We often concentrate on the
economic opportunities afforded to us by the EU Single Market
whilst minimising the opportunities of the UK market. This is
perfectly understandable as the EU Single Market provides access to
500 million EU Citizens and approximately 15% of the worlds trade
in goods.
Given the current trading volumes, the success of the NI economy
is directly linked to the success of the GB or UK economy. This is
both confusing to some nationalists and unionists, as even though
they often disagree with what happens at Westminster, a successful
UK economy is essential to both of their main agendas.
For those of us who are neither nationalist nor unionist it is
so much easier. As we are just looking for a thriving and
successful economy.
Therefore, despite the different views at Stormont, it is...
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid made a low-key
visit to the U.S. this week to shore up unconditional support among
Democrats and American Jews, and to bolster his case as an
alternative to Netanyahu.
...
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