Norman Houston was steeped in his love for Northern Ireland, and there was no better representative for us

He was steeped in his love and commitment for Northern Ireland.

Back in 2008 I had been heading up a cross-party local government initiative to bring the annual conference of Sister Cities International to Belfast the following year. Norman Houston was a phenomenal help.

He hosted a reception in Washington, he pulled out all the stops at very short notice and he sent a staff member to Kansas City in 2008 to help line up delegates for the following year.

A hugely successful conference came to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in 2009 and that could not have been done without the efforts of Norman Houston.

That opened the door for so many other conferences to look at Belfast as a serious conference venue.

Alan Chambers, Ulster Unionist MLA, North Down

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