Call for all-Ireland inward investment body…
THE chairman of the Ulster Bank Group, Dr Alan Gillespie, has called for a merger between the two inward investment promoters – Northern Ireland’s Invest NI and the Republic’s Industrial Development Agency. The former chairman of the Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board (Invest NI’s predecessor) said: “I believe that to market Northern Ireland effectively we should align the inward investment marketing activities of Invest Northern Ireland (INI) with the Republic of Ireland’s IDA. We should promote an all-island economy through a single joined-up effective agency, with the IDA and INI no longer competitors, but fully collaborative.”
From their FAQ:
5. Are Gulliver Ireland and Fáilte Ireland the same thing?
No, Gulliver and Fáilte Ireland are two separate organisations. Gulliver Ireland is a private company and part of the International Foreign Exchange Company, Fexco. Fexco purchased the Gulliver system from Fáilte Ireland (then Bord Fáilte) and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in 1997. The Tourist Bords retain a 26% shareholding of Gulliver Ireland.
This makes perfect sense. It is working in tourism and could work well in trade if we can get corporation tax harmonised also.
More on http://www.oconallstreet.com
Gulliver was established by Bord Failte and NITB as a complement to Tourism Ireland, hence my TI/Gulliver. AFAIK TI is also a private company too.
I don’t see why you’re linking TI to travel stats when so few B&Bs, for example, use the all-island booking system – and probably the tourists do too.
“It is working in tourism”
Oh, dear. Another one …
Not quite separate in seems, Fraggle. The two tourist boards retain a share holding in Gulliver.
barnshee
I take your point on Gordon Brown’s unpassable tests for the euro.
However at some point UK based businesses will see that they are currently shut out of the Eurozone which is a much bigger economy than that of the uk