Fresh wind in our sails

I'm delighted to hear that John Liu, Comptroller of New York City (effectively the chief financial officer) will be in Belfast — this is his first visit to Ireland — early next week and I'm privileged to have been asked to put together a small gathering to welcome him.

I hope to bring together a cross-peaceline small group which represents those who have invested in Belfast with their lives and their business acumen. All would be delighted to see the New York City Pension Funds invest in the developing areas of Belfast — in those neighbourhoods which have borne the brunt of the years of warfare — but they will also by their many diverse opinions and backgrounds emphasise that this is a good place to do business and to get a return (a view not always shared by the economists who advise equity funds).

I was also heartened last night by the most serious engagement to date between the statutory agencies, led by Invest NI, and promoters of the Gaeltacht Quarter project. While the fine detail of the discussion is private, it's fair to say that there's a meeting of minds on the type of regeneration project which would really hit the spot for the Gaeilge community and Invest NI.

And to further float your boat, here's a marvellous Belfast Media Group video by John Kelly focusing on the visit last week of top Boston politicians Eugene O'Flaherty, Charles Murphy, Marty Walsh and Sean O'Donovan.