Norman Houston, director of the Northern Ireland Bureau. VIDEO 1  -  VIDEO 2

Northern Ireland’s chief representative in the U.S. visited Atlanta Feb. 24-25 to invite the state’s business community to participate in a major trade mission to the region celebrating the one-year anniversary of elected provincial government.

Norman Houston, director of the Washington-based Northern Ireland Bureau, a department of Northern Ireland’s U.K.-sanctioned government, told GlobalAtlanta that he expects 50 to 60 chief executives of American corporations to take part in the May 8-9 trip.

He added that First Minister Dr. Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness are to host the delegation, and Gordon Brown, U.K. prime minister, and Bertie Ahearn, prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, are to attend.

Mr. Houston also said that Neville Isdell, a native of Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, and CEO of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., has been inviting fellow businesspeople across the country to join the delegation on behalf of the bureau.

Northern Ireland, a U.K. province, established its own parliament in Belfast May 8, 2007, after the Democratic Unionist Party and Irish nationalist Sinn Féin, the parties with the most elected representatives, agreed to a power-sharing arrangement after five years of direct rule from London.

Mr. Houston told the Ireland Chamber of Commerce USA Atlanta Chapter at the group’s monthly lunch at the World Trade Center Atlanta that the deal marked a new beginning for the region.

“In the new Northern Ireland, we have the wonderful situation of having two parties that were diametrically opposed now in government together,” he said.

He added that the new government has made economic development the centerpiece of its program, focusing on attracting tourists and companies interested in entering European markets.

Mr. Houston said that his office markets Northern Ireland as a source of highly educated employees and lower operating costs than in most E.U. countries.

Left to right: Norman Houston, Jane Dawson and Kevin Conboy, president of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce USA Atlanta Chapter. Photo by Mike Rast Jr.

Jane Dawson, a representative of Invest Northern Ireland, the region’s business development agency, traveled from New York to Atlanta to attend the lunch.

She said that 2007 was the agency’s best year to date, attracting $93 million in investment to the region.

Mr. Houston said that tourism has become one of the region’s most profitable sectors since 35 years of political unrest ended with the new parliament.

“Before the peace process, only about 5 percent of Americans visiting Ireland actually drove across the border” into Northern Ireland, he said, adding that the number of tourists visting the region since 2003 has outnumbered the 1.7 million people living there.

Cross-border cooperation between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland extends to infrastructure development, as one of two new golf courses includes a hole in the Republic. "You tee off in one jurisdiction and end up with your ball on the green in the other jurisdiction," Mr. Houston said.

He also said the region is working to develop its tourism infrastructure and that he has met with New York-based real estate mogul Donald Trump to discuss building a golf resort near the Giant’s Causeway, a popular natural tourism destination on the coast of County Antrim.

He said that many Georgians have family and cultural ties to Ireland that bring them back as tourists.

“There are a lot of cultural links to this part of the United States,” Mr. Houston said.  “What I would like to see is strengthening those cultural links and turning them into business opportunities.”

He also said that the new government is dealing with longstanding issues regarding the business environment in Northern Ireland, including labor laws and corporate taxation.

Mr. Houston said that the regional parliament will consider ways to simplify employment legislation, which some in Northern Ireland fear will hamper inward investment, but labor disputes are too rare to be an immediate priority.

Taxation is a separate issue, as the British Parliament in London determines rates.  Mr. Houston said that Sir David Varney, former chairman of the U.K.’s Revenue and Customs, issued a report in December stating that changing Northern Ireland’s corporate tax to mirror the Republic of Ireland’s attractive rates is not the best way to attract investment.

“We feel in Northern Ireland we have other advantages to offer,” Mr. Houston said. “If you add up the math, probably we have just as good a deal to offer irrespective of the taxation issue.”

He also spoke about the opportunity for educational exchanges with Georgia universities, saying that Northern Ireland has become a case study for conflict resolution scholars.

Mr. Houston ended by saying that any company interested in joining the trade mission should contact his office.