Economic growth in Northern Ireland: new and emerging sectors

Status / emerging findings

• Northern Ireland's economy is growing faster than the UK overall, but government growth strategies (UK and Executive) developed in silos create confusion for businesses; committee urges alignment and measurable targets.
• Universities (Queen's £3.35bn, Ulster £1.85bn annual contribution) and an emerging AI sector (£188m, ~195 companies) are major growth engines, but both face chronic underinvestment and access barriers to national funding.
• SMEs dominate NI's R&D economy (75% business-led, 49% from SMEs vs 38–39% UK-wide), limiting productivity and competitiveness; post-Windsor Framework dual-market access creates trading complexity with inadequate business support.
• Intertrade UK, the UK Government's advisory body on internal trade barriers, is critically under-resourced (£750k/year vs InterTradeIreland's larger budget), has no GB representation despite GB traders being the main barrier, and has conducted no direct business engagement.
• Severe regional inequality: Belfast dominates investment; Fermanagh and Omagh has 200m of dual carriageway, no rail west of the Bann; city deals stalled by bureaucratic delays and focus on capital projects over skills development.

Why it matters

Northern Ireland's economic future depends on whether the UK and devolved executives can coordinate strategy and fix fragmented support systems—failure risks entrenching regional inequality and wasting university and emerging-sector assets that could drive UK growth.

Tone arc

Started cooperative (universities and business chambers identifying sectoral strengths), shifted to critical after sessions with Intertrade UK revealed severe resource constraints and governance gaps, hardened further after local council testimony exposed infrastructure inequality and slow delivery of city deals.

Key witnesses

Baroness Foster (Intertrade UK chair), Colin McCabrey (Intertrade UK), Professor Paul Bartholomew (Ulster University Vice-Chancellor), David Quinn (Queen's University Belfast), Stuart Anderson (business chamber), Councillor Tim McClelland (NILGA, local government), Alison McCullagh (Fermanagh and Omagh council), Steven Norris (Antrim and Newtownabbey council)