COMMENT Northern Ireland has been hitting the press over the last few years for a variety of complex reasons. And although hindsight is a wonderful thing, in any good negotiation, like in any good poker game, one has to know when to play your hand and, almost as important, when not to.
I am just about of an age where I can recall a Northern Ireland that didn’t look like it does today. The remnants of security issues, very few tall buildings and half as many high street brands compared to the line-up on most UK high streets.
As we continue to navigate the new frontier that is “Brexit” it feels that we, as a collective, have many brave decisions to make. In the wake of riots and political machinations, it feels that the weight of history is upon us to make plans that genuinely shape the economic and societal landscape of Northern Ireland for a generation to come.
Today, we speak casually of the high-quality, highly paid jobs that young graduates can avail of in Belfast. Yesterday we saw the anecdotal phenomenon known as the “brain drain” as some of the best and brightest left these shores to study and, more often than not, to go on to contribute industriously to the economy of Ireland or another UK region.
Finding a way to flourish
Much has been achieved in the past 20 years by Invest NI and others to attract investment and deliver jobs to this region and while we have a young and fast-growing demographic, we must be cognisant of our scale and rate of indigenous growth. One cannot misrepresent the statistics of the region, our oft-quoted low employment, stymied by our high economically inactive rate, and, of course, the continued need for the Barnett consequential.
In the immediate future, our key characteristics that have driven investment, that lie mostly within the skill of our labour force, cannot be undermined by a landscape of uncertainty. We must find a way to govern in administrative excellence and step into the new challenges ahead.
Northern Ireland should seek to maximise its position within the jurisdiction of the UK while embracing all that goes with an unfettered land border to the European Union. Parochialism will fail to grasp the opportunities.
Within this l can a see a future where foreign direct investment in all sectors, from professional services and agri-food to life sciences can find a way to flourish. When employment creates more well-paid jobs, the tax base increases and the expenditure within the economy can take a step forward. This in turn creates opportunities for city-centre living and leisure to thrive.
In a post-pandemic world, the location of an employee’s desk is perhaps less important and perhaps the centripetal force of larger capitals will loosen in favour of quality of life, accessibility and affordability.
This step-change in growth could be transformative for the living standards of a region with as much potential as Northern Ireland. After all, in the words of the late John Hume, “you can’t eat a flag”.
Gareth Howell is a divisional director at Savills Northern Ireland
