Ireland, Britain hail progress on NIreland anniversary

BELFAST (AFP) - Britain's and Ireland's leaders hailed economic progress in Northern Ireland Thursday, a year after a historic power-sharing government took office, saying investment was now pouring into the province.

Ireland's newly-elected Prime Minister Brian Cowen joined Gordon Brown at an investment conference in Belfast a year after the resumption of self-rule under a government comprised of Catholics and Protestants.

The two men's predecessors, Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair, were widely praised with steering the British province towards peace after decades of violence, and Brown pledged to continue their work.

"We are now at a moment of new opportunity for Northern Ireland," he said, noting that the conference -- held exactly a year after the May 8 swearing-in of a power-sharing government -- had attracted more investors than ever.

"Just as Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern worked last year to move things forward, so Brian Cowen and I will work together to move things forward in the next years," Brown added.

A landmark accord last year between Catholic and Protestant parties led to the return of self-rule in Northern Ireland, where over 3,000 people died in three decades of the so-called Troubles before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Cowen, who was only sworn in as Irish premier on Wednesday, stressed his "government's commitment to the development of the all-island economy," his office said.

"There is a huge determination on the part of all of us to ensure the true economic potential of Northern Ireland is now unleashed," Cowen told the conference.

"Our relentless focus is on increasing economic growth, competitiveness, productivity and investment throughout the island so that we can all benefit," he added.

As well as meeting Brown for the first time as premier, Cowen was to hold talks with Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and his deputy Martin McGuinness of the Republican movement Sinn Fein.

US Special Envoy Paula Dobriansky, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Paisley's successor-in-waiting Peter Robinson were also in Belfast, along with top US and Northern Irish political and business leaders.

Brown added: "The enthusiasm to invest in Northern Ireland is greater than ever because of the growth and stability that has been seen, and also the determination of all parties to move investment, jobs and prosperity forward.

"So much progress has been made in the last year, but a huge amount of progress can be made in the next few months, and in the next year," he said.

Paisley, the former firebrand preacher who long rejected any suggestion of negotiations with Sinn Fein, announced in March that he would stand down after the Belfast conference.

No official date has been set, but sources in Belfast suggested he could leave office in the first week of June.

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