Background to the Research

• Because of the troubles, Northern Ireland has had difficulty in attracting inward investment. However, since the 1994 cease-fires, and more recently, President Clinton's visit to the Province in September 1998, investors have begun to reinvest as confidence has grown.
• Underpinning job creation in Northern Ireland has been the need to create jobs for those most in need in society. The IDB's 1995-1998 target of 75 per cent of new investment in or near disadvantaged neighbourhoods was intended to create employment for the unemployed. The rationale behind this move was based on a Liberal view of the conflict, that economic benefits would tackle deprivation and thus reduce the potential for division amongst the two communities.
• The Liberal perspective of the conflict is, however, misguided. There are factors other than economics that need to be taken into account, for instance, nationalism, culture, and identity.
• The aim of this paper is to analyse the contribution inward investment has made to Northern Ireland, in particular, to those who are unemployed and on the margins of society.
  

Research Approach

• Survey data were collected during 1996-1997 from over 4,000 employees at six companies that have recently been established as a result of inward investment. The special focus of the analysis is on the types of people, as indicated by previous economic status, who have gained jobs at these sites, and the extent to which social need had been effectively targeted under TSN by jobs being located in or near socially-deprived areas.
• Secondary source data from research findings is also used to support the study.

Main Findings

• There is no clear evidence that the benefits of job creation, either in quantity or quality, mainly go to the less affluent. The findings from the survey support this view.
• Northern Ireland is, in large part, trapped in the role of exit territory. This means that it lacks the social and economic institutions to create the conditions for embedded company growth. Consequently, it is unlikely to offer the conditions for stable job creation.
• The difficulties in creating and maintaining inward investment employment can be traced to two interrelated factors, both of which are a reflection of Northern Ireland's role in the world economy. Firstly, not all inward investment companies are high value added, for instance, the fast-growing call-centre sector with relatively low wages and highly mobile operations is not the kind of work that can be considered to be stable. Secondly, the IDB has to compete internationally against many development agencies to gain investment.

Conclusions

• Information from the case study companies has revealed that it is insufficient simply to locate jobs in or near deprived areas and then hope that they will effectively target social need.
• The institutional circumstances of Northern Ireland are not such, as yet, to provide conditions for long-term economic stability based on inward investment.
• What is needed is a rethink of the objectives and implementation of spatial policies that target jobs in socially deprived areas.
• To date, the TSN policy has failed to address this problem. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 1997 has highlighted the fact that the problems facing Northern Ireland cannot be rectified by economic means alone. Essentially, any approach to move forward the Peace Process must take into account economic and social factors as well as political ones.