Thompson, Paisley And McGuinness Announce Unprecedented Public Investment In The North

First Minister Dr Ian Paisley MP, MLA and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness were in New York last week to participate in the announcement of the largest ever US public investment in Northern Ireland.

The investment was announced by William C. Thompson Jr. Comptroller of the City of New York who is Chief Investment Advisor of the New York City Pension Funds which currently hold assets of $110billion.

The Comptroller announced that trustees of the fund were committing $150million to the Emerald Investment Development Fund LP, a private equity fund that will total some $750million and will target infrastructure investment projects.

Speaking at the announcement, which was held in the City Council Offices in Manhatten, Dr Paisley said: "I want to thank William Thompson and his colleagues for their vision and commitment in putting together this substantial investment package. Their decision to chose Northern Ireland as a place to do business makes this a truly a great day for us and for New York.

"This investment confirms that Northern Ireland has turned a corner. We are now a sound investment location that can provide the right caliber of people and projects to successfully underpin further inward investment, particularly from the US."

Welcoming the investment announcement Mr McGuinness said: "In June last year myself, the Finance Minister Peter Robinson MP, MLA and a number of my Executive colleagues met with the Comptrollers office and I am delighted that today we have seen the fruits of this engagement.

New York City Comproller said, "Based on vigorous assessment by our investment consultants, we are confident that there is great potential for long-term investment success in the region due to an historical underinvestment in infrastructure.

"We expect that other public and private investment funds will increasingly make Northern Ireland a major focus of their investment decision making. While our number one priority is a strong return on our investment, we are encouraged that these projects will promote sustainable development and equality of opportunity, and will help to improve the economic condition of those who have been disadvantaged by patterns of historic exclusion and by nearly 30 years of civil strife," he concluded.