View: Dialogue will build on our own ‘special relationship’

Some are anticipated, as half the population of the planet goes to the polls; others are exploding unexpectedly as major political figures suddenly leave the stage.

Business doesn’t like uncertainty, so long-established relationships with reliable partners that foster a sense of certainty are highly cherished; and the best relationships are those where both parties contribute and where there is constant dialogue.

To that end, next week Belfast will play host to the eighth annual “UK – U.S. SME Dialogue” - an ongoing exchange that brings small and medium businesses and stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic together with government officials, to identify ways to deepen trade and strengthen cooperation on issues of mutual interest to SMEs.

Trade between the U.S. and UK is about $247 billion per year and, together, there is around $1 trillion invested in each other’s economies. That is the relationship between the U.S. and the UK as a whole but, in many ways, Northern Ireland is in the vanguard of the UK’s commitment – we have a very particular role within the U.S – UK’s ‘special relationship’.

The ties between Northern Ireland and the United States of America are ancient and strong. A quarter of U.S Presidents can trace their roots to ancestors from Ulster, with those forebears playing an important role in shaping the United States we know today, beginning with participation in the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

It is further evidenced by the second-oldest continuously operating U.S. Consulate General in the world being established in Belfast by the first American President, George Washington, two hundred and thirty years ago.

The sharing of DNA continued when over 300,000 US personnel came to Northern Ireland during the Second World War and many new relationships were forged, keeping the bond close and vibrant. And the role of the U.S. as honest broker from the start of the peace process through the ensuing quarter century is testament to the continuing ‘special relationship’ our two countries enjoy.

By return, some of the greatest contributions Northern Ireland has made to the relationship have come from the world-leading innovation of our business sector. It is hard to be sure quite why, but Northern Ireland is a hotbed of ingenuity.

Perhaps we have a more acute sense of problems, for which our population is naturally inclined to find solutions; maybe it is because we have always enjoyed a close connection with the land, and farmers are instinctive engineers and problem-solvers; it may stem from the close relationship between our universities and business. Whatever the reason, that unquestionable output has served to deepen the relationship between the UK and the U.S.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct – the 230 mile long water infrastructure that allowed LA to grow into the largest city in California – was designed by Belfast-born engineer, William Mulholland.

The ejection seat, that has gone on to save over 7,600 lives world-wide and is still in operation today, was designed by James Martin from rural Crossgar in County Down as he developed pilot escape mechanisms for the Spitfire aeroplane following the death of his business partner, Capt Valentine Baker in an air crash.

And the portable defibrillator was invented by another Co Down man, Frank Pantridge, a cardiac consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, who saw the need to treat cardiac patients urgently. Since then, these devices have been used in ambulances and at the scene of cardiac arrest, saving countless lives worldwide. Business underpinning the special relationship between our countries and our people.

As we stand ready to welcome businesses from across the UK and the U.S. to Belfast next week for the SME Dialogue, we do so in the knowledge that there is, indeed, a very special relationship that owes much of its origins to Northern Ireland and its people that will stand all of us in good stead.