Good news for Harland & Wolff, let us hope the same for Wrightbus

The historic shipyard Harland and Wolff has been rescued in a £6 million deal.

The yard will be saved from closure by the London company InfraStrata, which specialises in energy infrastructure.

The total number of jobs saved is relatively small: 79.

But InfraStrata is hoping to increase the size of its workforce by several hundred in the coming years.

If that comes to fruition, it will be a huge turnaround for such a landmark business, so intrinsically linked to the very history of Northern Ireland, due to its construction of great liners such as the Titanic and its position as a major employer overr many decades.

Even the prime minister Boris Johnson has recognised the importance of Harland and Wolff and has talked enthusiastically about the prospect of it being saved.

Mr Johnson’s secretary of state Julian Smith said yesterday: “I firmly believe that the shipyard has a promising future.”

Let us hope that that is so.

The prospects at another great Ulster business, Wrightbus, have looked more grim in recent weeks.

But now the DUP MP for North Antrim Ian Paisley Junior is saying that there are two bidders for it. Details were contained in a letter sent to councillors ahead of a special meeting of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council last night.

One is said to be from England, and the other from America.

The demise of Wrightbus has been a traumatic development for Northern Ireland, and particularly Ballymena.

It is plainly of huge fundamental value to the society, even if recent difficulties have undermined its actual value to potential buyers. If Wrightbus, which Boris Johnson name-checked at a DUP Tory conference event last night, can be saved alongside Harland and Wolff, then October will have been a good month for business in NI.