Dickson Welcomes Another Successful East Antrim Alliance Business Breakfast

Stewart Dickson MLA has hailed the East Antrim Alliance Business Breakfast as “a fantastic success once again” highlighting the contribution local businesses make not only to Northern Ireland’s economy, but to jobs, skills and communities across the region.

The East Antrim MLA, and Executive Office Spokesman, welcomed business owners, Alliance Party representatives and stakeholders from across the constituency and beyond, to Carrickfergus Golf Club on Friday morning.

Guests heard from Director of Ulster Universities Economic Policy Centre, Gareth Hetherington, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir MLA and deputy leader of the Alliance Party Eoin Tennyson MLA, as well as Coin Johnston CEO of the Galgorm Collection, the sponsor of this year’s event.

Opening the event, Mr Dickson said: “Once again, our East Antrim Business Breakfast has been a fantastic success, bringing together businesses of all shapes and sizes to discuss both the opportunities ahead and the barriers which continue to hold our economy back.

“What struck me throughout the morning was the scale of the contribution businesses are already making. They create jobs and opportunities, invest in our young people, and support the communities in which they operate.

“Galgorm is a particularly good example of this. From its beginnings as a five-bedroom hotel in Broughshane, it has grown into one of Northern Ireland’s best known hospitality businesses and a major local employer, while continuing to invest substantially in local schools, sports clubs, charities and community organisations.

“That is the kind of growth we must be ambitious for right across this country, and government has a responsibility to create the conditions which allow businesses like these to start, grow and invest in local communities. That circular relationship is something we should be doing everything possible to encourage.”

However, Ulster University Economist, Gareth Heatherington, warned of significant challenges facing the Northern Ireland economy. While employee jobs have grown strongly over the past decade, self-employment has failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels, with Northern Ireland experiencing the largest contraction of any UK region.

Mr Heatherington also identified chronic underinvestment in infrastructure, including wastewater capacity, alongside delays in the planning system, as major constraints on private sector investment and long-term economic growth.

Mr Dickson added: “There was a very clear message from Gareth’s presentation. Northern Ireland has enormous strengths, including in financial services, fintech and advanced manufacturing, but our economy is simply not growing fast enough.

“We need to be much more ambitious about entrepreneurship and self-employment, particularly among our young people. For too long we have spoken about education as a route to employment without giving the same attention to the possibility of creating a business and becoming an employer.

“We also cannot continue expecting businesses to invest while basic infrastructure and a cumbersome planning system prevent development from getting off the ground. Reforming those systems does not necessarily require vast amounts of money, but ambition and a willingness to make processes work better”

Agriculture Minister, Andrew Muir, told attendees that economic and environmental ambitions must go hand in hand, stating that there could be no “rolling back” on Northern Ireland environmental ambitions.

Alliance Deputy Leader Eoin Tennyson, meanwhile argued that Northern Ireland’s economic potential continues to be constrained by political instability and institutional dysfunction.

He highlighted the importance of building a welcoming and inclusive society to attracting and retaining workers, visitors and investment, alongside the need for political reform to prevent the institutions continually being held to ransom by “veto politics’.

Concluding, Mr Dickson Said: “The message from this year's breakfast has been one of optimism but also of urgency. We have world-leading businesses, talented people, and sectors with enormous potential. What we now need is a government capable of matching that ambition by investing in skills and infrastructure, fixing planning, supporting entrepreneurship, and making the difficult decisions necessary to deliver sustainable growth.

“Alliance wants to see a Northern Ireland that is competitive, sustainable and outward looking. That requires more than warm words about growth. It requires a plan, political stability and a willingness to deliver it.”