NI visit by US economic delegation should ‘act as a spur’ to restore Stormont, O’Neill says

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill has said the momentum created by the visit of a US trade delegation to Northern Ireland should be the spur to restore the Stormont powersharing institutions.

Following a meeting with the American business leaders in Belfast, Ms O’Neill said she was determined that the Assembly should be restored as a “matter of urgency”.

“We should build on the momentum that we have from this delegation,” she said. “It is very clear there is certainly a sense of urgency. The mood music has been very positive, we should build on that.

“Clearly we want to be in our positions, being in the executive and actually meeting these people as first minister, as ministers around an executive table.”

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Ms O’Neill added: “I think it acts as a spur and it should act as a spur. The positivity and momentum that we can garner from this delegation is immense.

“We have been speaking all week about the need for political stability. That has been welcomed by the political parties so the natural follow-through should be a restored executive.

“I think the sense of urgency that everyone should feel right now is that this is an opportunity not to be missed.”

Joe Kennedy III, the US special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs, on Wednesday announced that a Florida-based company, Frontline, would be investing £3.8 million in Northern Ireland. He said the insurance and technology company plans to establish an engineering team that would hire 31 people.

Ahead of the visit, Mr Kennedy said local government and administration need to be functioning in Northern Ireland for the region to realise the business opportunities that arise. He said that large-scale business investment was likely to be drawn to areas of stability.

“If you’re going to make investments in the billions of dollars, you want to make sure that the foundation upon which those investments are built are stable and secure. Having [the Northern Ireland political] institutions up and running and healthy and functioning are a critical piece to that.” - PA