US investors told North is ‘open for business’ again
US INVESTORS have been told the North is ‘open for business’ as the region’s new political leadership addressed an event in Washington DC.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly made the remarks at the Ireland Funds national gala, a key part of the US St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The Sinn Féin and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) pairing took centre stage on Wednesday at the event, also attended by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Mr Varadkar is on a week-long visit to Washington which will see him meet with US president Joe Biden at the White House on matters from economic ties between the two countries to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Representatives from the Northern Executive, restored six weeks ago after a long-running boycott by the DUP over post-Brexit trading arrangements, arrived in Washington DC for engagements with investors, community groups and politicians.
Ms O’Neill said Stormont representatives were in the US to advocate for the North and set out shared priorities.
She said: ‘We’re also here with a clarion call to all US investors that we’re open for businesses, that government has been reinstated .’
Ms Little-Pengelly said the North is a place of ‘great hope, determination and ambition’.
She added: ‘We want to work hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder in terms of that investment and building that amazing future we know [the North] has.’
The North’s secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris praised the two leaders, saying: ‘I don’t think you can ask for a better message to this crowd.’