The President, Mrs McAleese, has called on business people in the North to use their influence so that "hard-earned" opportunities presented in the Belfast Agreement would not be squandered, reports Monika Unsworth.
Addressing members of the Lisburn Chamber of Commerce last night, the President particularly praised the role played by businessmen and women in striving for peace and prosperity on both sides of the Border.
"In these difficult days it is essential that we have team leaders, visionaries, people like the members of this Chamber of Commerce. You have not been waiting for opportunity to come and meet you, you have gone out long since in search of it . . . The time is ripe for business leaders to once again assert their grip and to play a lead role in focusing debate on what is important to this and future generations," Mrs McAleese said.
The current political stalemate was a cause for concern for everybody but should not detract from the progress already made.
Mrs McAleese is due to visit Stormont today before opening an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast tonight.