BELFAST BRIEFING:Cuts of £127 million in public service budgets have left politicians with little room to manoeuvre, writes FRANCESS McDONNELL

TEN LOTS for sale on a former British army base in Derry, which could fetch more than £1.2 million, are an unwelcome reminder this week of the growing gap between the North’s political and economic progress.

The sale of former army facilities including a creche, shops and a leisure centre is a simple commercial transaction but it is a welcome one.

It marks another step in Northern Ireland’s journey forward but it takes place against the backdrop of one of the most unsettling periods of economic uncertainty since the peace process began.

The private sector’s battle with the lingering effects of the recession seems far from over as illustrated by the decision by one of Northern Ireland’s largest building and civil engineering firms to place 120 of its workers on protective notice.

Farrans, which is owned by CRH, says the slowdown in the local construction sector which has been fuelled by the lack of new public infrastructure projects, is to blame for potential redundancies.

Although the Executive is continuing to soldier on in the face of what Finance Minister Sammy Wilson has described as “challenging financial conditions”, cracks are beginning to show.

Projected cuts of £127.9 million (€151 million) in local public service budgets coming on top of previously earmarked cutbacks of £122.8 million has left local political leaders with little manoeuvrability.

Wilson believes the Executive can continue with its “good work” but only if it takes a proactive approach to major problems particularly in relation to the delivery and funding of public services.

The introduction of local water charges, which have been repeatedly deferred in the North, may be just one of the proactive approaches that the Executive can no longer afford to put off.

But where else will it find the money to deliver on its spending promises set out in the Programme for Government which pledged that the economy would be the top priority?

The new Conservative/Liberal Coalition could give Northern Ireland new tax raising powers but would this on its own be enough to counteract the adverse effect of serious budget cuts on an economy too dependent on the public sector? Probably not if the remarks, made in good humour by the Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster, at a venture capital conference in Belfast are anything to go by.

Foster who addressed entrepreneurs and investors at the InterTradeIreland event joked that she might hang around and see if any of the participating organisations, who have access to an estimated €275 million worth of funds, might consider putting some of their money in to the Executive.

She may have been better placed making a direct plea to one of Northern Ireland’s best known entrepreneurs who chose the event to divulge what he described as his “secret to success”.

Belfast-born Bill McCabe, who has an ongoing membership of various rich lists, is currently one of the principals behind the venture capital firm Oyster Technology Investments.

But he is best known for his success at turning his high-tech ambitions into multimillion euro realities.

McCabe was chief executive officer of CBT Systems, which later became SmartForce and grew into a global online learning giant.

He helped propel the company through a successful Nasdaq flotation and also set up his own company along the way which he sold helping him to become a double digit millionaire.

McCabe may have stepped down from SmartForce more than a decade ago but he has never lost his enthusiasm for pursuing a dream – a factor which he attributes to his success.

“You have to be able to dream but not be a dreamer because it is so easy to be consumed by your own dream.

“You have to visualise it happening – that’s what I had to do, a little guy from Belfast,” he told the InterTradeIreland venture capital conference.

The economics graduate from Queen’s University believes to hit the big time you need to be in possession of certain facts.

First is that “great people” not pioneering ideas or new products are the ultimate driver of success.

Second you have got to be able to sell your business idea, service or product.

“Every software product has a lifecycle and you have to be careful if there are a lot of delays in getting it out because one thing is certain somebody, somewhere is building something better and if not better just as good,” McCabe warns.

Thirdly entrepreneurs and developers should be as obsessed with the “numbers” as any chief financial officer would be.

“You have to know your business better than anyone else, you have got to know the market and the opportunity and you have also got to have a plan that is concrete and achievable – write it down and say it,” McCabe believes.

Perhaps the North’s Executive needs to take a leaf from his book – if it get some good people in, writes down a plan, becomes obsessed with the sums and is prepared to dream a little then it might pull through.