Hurricane Quinn

Someone said Hurricane Quinn hit landfall in County Antrim yesterday.

They were referring to the boundless energy of Christine Quinn, Speaker & President of New York City Council who has also been described as the third most important New Yorker!

Speaker Quinn has come to Belfast, influenced by Máirtín Ó Muilleoir of Belfast Media Group and myself at The Presidents' Club.

Christine is officiating at tonights prestigious Aisling Awards.....more about that again...

This morning Christine led a discussion at the Presidents' Club with an eclectic group of entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, fund managers, creative companies and professionals. She gave us ideas about innovative tax credits for small businesses, about lowest tender +10% to favour local businesses, about creative use of old buildings, of a community industrial kitchen to stimulate entrepreneurs in the food sector......

Many thanks to Belfast Media Group for the pictures and support. Good luck all with the Aisling Awards tonight ;-)

Cup half full or half empty?

The old adage asks if you are a 'half full' or 'half empty' type.

I think it doesn't matter, just as long as you know where the bottle is!

I read and listened to details of the Ernst & Young report on the economy that indicates that Northern Ireland is in the midst of its worst ever slowdown and that the all-island economy will shrink by 7% this year.

The radio report said that Northern Ireland would be hardest hit because the island [Republic's] economy was so badly affected.

I say nonsense! Bring it on! We are going to have record new trade on the island; new contracts; new partnerships; new collaborations; new frontiers. Com'on, given the pre-existing low base of single island trade, improving attitude, a cost competitive environment and our new found confidence things can only look up!

The road is nearly complete. The train line is nearly fixed....

2010 is going to be a great year.....I know where the bottle is!

bringing home the bacon

Well Tim Brundle and Gareth McAleese are now proudly staring in Apple's new iPhone Marketing initiative filmed in and around Cathedral Quarter.

This is a direct result of the visit of the so called Band of Brothers (so named by a senior Invest NI official) to Apple in Cupertino back in March when we promoted Belfast a City of 7 Quarters and in particular focused on Cathedral Quarter as a World Centre of Excellence in Creative Industry, Digital Content and Media-tech.

The University there produces more creative industry graduates than any institution on the island of Ireland. We have a legacy of great wireless and mobile industry technology companies. We have some of the most creative individuals and SMEs. We have fantastic people, broadband capacity swelled by Project Kelvin, brilliant hotels and café society city life.....

This is the future of Belfast....

This recognition by Apple is just a start, now let's see what more we can achieve in bringing home the bacon.

Well done boys.

Good for the Goose, Good for the Gander

I was struck by two things:-

1) In driving to watch Ulster Rugby against Munster, it took me no time at all from Belfast to Dublin Airport/M50 and indeed onwards to Limerick and Shannon - and that is before the road is complete around Newry and between Nenagh and Limerick.

2) The piece on the front page and page 3 of today's Irish Times about Charges at Dublin Airport that may rise sharply.

I suggest the travelling public (business and leisure) may join the shoppers in increasing numbers in taking the opportunity to come north to fly from Belfast International and Belfast City Airports - as it takes no time at all from Dublin to either!

That said, I am also conscious that Gordon Brown is taking approx £100.30 in Airport Departure Tax (due to rise by another approx £15 in 2010) from an ordinary Coach passenger flying to NYC - compared to approx £64.30 in Dublin.

Business Class (the vital economic link that we must encourage ) is even worse at approx £145.30 compared with £64.30 ex-Dublin).

What an opportunity we have. I do hope that the Executive presses Gordon Brown - or perhaps Sir Reg Empey presses David Cameron to do something about this, to allow us to seize the day.

We have got to build a set of simple economic tools that will together make the north an attractive business proposition.

Maybe this will be a topic of discussion on Tuesday 24th November when The Presidents' Club hosts Conor Lenihan T.D., Minister for Science, Technology, Innovation & Natural Resources, Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment.

Members and guests will have an opportunity to quiz Minister Lenihan as to his Government's views of all-island business development and cooperation in important areas such as infrastructure, R&D and International Development.

The idea behind our Thought Leaders Series of events is that the leader 'moderates' (a good Presbyterian term!) discussion around a theme, rather than 'talks at' the audience.

If you have interest in attending (£25 contribution towards costs) or have questions for the Minister let me know!

Aisling Awards - Vote Presidents' Club.

Open Skys....Blah! WE WANT A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

I recently asked Barry Jackson of Continental Airlines how much Airport Departure Tax we are all paying for a seat when flying in his excellent back cabin to Newark.

I was staggered to hear the rates....Barry please let us all know the details. Also Barry, how does this compare with your what colleague Yvonne Muldoon's customers are facing out of Dublin.

The ADT was supposed to be a 'Green Tax' to be deployed in environmental initiatives. I'd like to hear from HMRC just what the tax is being used for.

Meanwhile, it would appear that the outward looking businesses of Northern Ireland are being penalised or forced to drive to Dublin.

I for one know just how important the direct route to USA from Belfast is and I'm prepared to pay a small premium to support the service. But these are tough times and sometimes it is too much to swallow.

Also, I've been calling for a common approach by the US Immigration Service to the island of Ireland - let's have clearance on this side of the Atlantic in Belfast as we enjoy out of Dublin and Shannon.

This fantastic and (I believe) unique service speeds up entry to USA on the other side of the pond and facilitates the business passenger making important connections to smaller cities. This is good for the US too and should be supported by the SME community in middle America.

Views please...