Quigley likens political talks to management, union dialogue

If the political parties negotiating in the North were management and unions in a company, "then they would know that the consequences of failure would be very high indeed". So says Sir George Quigley, chairman of the so-called Group of Seven, the lobby of business and trade union leaders which has issued a strong call on all sides to cut a deal.

It is maybe less easy for those involved in the current talks to see the direct links to economic progress, he said, but they are there.

Sir George, who is chairman of Ulster Bank, concedes that it is hard to be optimistic about the political situation. Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday after the G7's weekend statement, he said the real nub of the matter was now the amplification of the three principles outlined by the British prime minister and the Taoiseach. Given the positions taken by parties on both sides "one would not be hopeful about the prospects".

The G7 has urged political parties on both sides "to make the simultaneous leap forward now, in whatever way they can mutually agree". Even if the agreement thus reached is not perfect, "it will be the best solution possible in difficult circumstances".

Finding some political compromise is vital, he argues, and it is the responsibility of those in business and interested in development to highlight the economic issues involved.

"What we want to emphasise is not that the sky will fall in" if there is no agreement, he says. After all, the North's economy has performed well in recent years when compared to the UK as a whole. "But what we are saying is that the place has enormous potential, which will not be realised unless there is a normal environment of political stability."

The price of failure would be high, he argues, particularly as " the chips are down now in a way that they were not before" and not reaching agreement would send a powerful message around the world. Failure could lead to great political uncertainty, with each side trying to "cherry pick" parts of the Belfast Agreement they liked and ditch others. If no agreement is reached by tomorrow, then the G7 has called on the two governments to clarify the way forward quickly, to avoid such uncertainty.

Sir George outlines what he believes would be the economic price of no agreement.

"It is very difficult to attract inward investment if the North is not functioning as a normal society." He contrasts the North's position with that of Scotland, where the establishment of the new Assembly has led to the Scottish Enterprise Agency setting ambitious new targets for attracting projects. On a similar theme, he says that at a time when the Scots and Welsh - and other UK regions - are developing a strong voice, Northern Ireland would suffer if a strong assembly was not representing its interests.

As it is, he says, a host of decisions have been put on hold, pending the establishment of a fully functioning executive.

Getting these points across in a heated political environment is not easy. "It is always very difficult to get economic issues up the agenda," he says. "This is despite the fact that in the last analysis politics does come back to the reflection of interests of a civil society issues" where issues such as jobs and improving public services should be paramount.

The G7 includes representatives of the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses, the NI Economic Council, the NI Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the NI Growth Challenge, the NI Hospitality Federation and the NI Chamber of Commerce and Industry.