Could Northern Ireland become the UK’s Silicon Valley? US firms waiting in the wings read to pump ‘billions of dollars’ of investment cash into Ulster that could transform its economy if unionists back Sunak’s Brexit deal and political stability returns

Ministers are hoping to win over potential Brexit deal critics by promising that it will unlock billions of dollars of investment by US firms into Northern Ireland

Ministers are said to have revealed that corporations are willing to pump cash into Ulster if the Stormont Assembly and its power-sharing executive resumes.

But this would mean the Democratic Unionist Party would have to accept the Windsor Framework, Bloomberg reported.

Its ‘Stormont Brake’ that gives local politicians a veto over new EU trade laws relies on the assembly sitting for the first time since February 2022.

Companies including Google, Facebook, AirBnB and Twitter already have extensive European operations in Dublin. 

The prospect of investment leading to jobs is a carrot being waved in front of the DUP to win over any wavering MPs. 

Rishi Sunak has already wielded the stick by suggesting he will move ahead with other parts of the Windsor deal even without their approval.

Last month US ambassador to the UK Jane Hartley said that a deal would be a ‘huge opportunity’ for investment in Northern Ireland. 

Carrot: Ministers are said to have revealed that corporations are willing to pump cash into Ulster if the Stormont Assembly and its power-sharing executive resumes.

Stick: Rishi Sunak has suggesting he will move ahead with other parts of the Windsor deal even without the DUP’s approval.

The DUP will take its time to consider the substance of the Windsor agreement rather than the Government’s ‘spin’, the party’s chief whip Sammy Wilson said.

Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald today said: ‘All eyes will be on the north of Ireland, and the question it seems to us, for people in politics is, what do you want the world to see?

‘Do you want them to see a vista of opportunity and positivity or not. We want these opportunities for every community and all of our people and we hope that our colleagues from other parties are in that same state of mind.’

‘Perhaps the biggest reform that we need now in this moment is a bit of reformed thinking among some.

‘The idea for example that endlessly you can meander along in a state of limbo is not politically real. The world doesn’t work like that.

‘If I had a magic wand, which sadly I don’t have, but if I did and could wish for one thing, I would wish for that level of realism to dawn.

‘Because you have whole generations of people who are relying on people like us, elected people in this room and beyond, to actually do the right things, make the right moves and seize all of those opportunities.’

Welcoming the deal on Monday, President Biden said that the deal was an ‘essential step to ensuring that the hard-earned peace and progress of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is preserved and strengthened’.

He said: ‘I am confident the people and businesses of Northern Ireland will be able to take full advantage of the economic opportunities created by this stability and certainty, and the United States stands ready to support the region’s vast economic potential.’

Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald (right) today said: ‘All eyes will be on the north of Ireland, and the question it seems to us, for people in politics is, what do you want the world to see?

Tory Eurosceptics could take two weeks to decide whether to back Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

The ERG bloc of Conservative MPs has convened a ‘star chamber’ to sift through the legal text the PM has thrashed out with the EU.

But a meeting of the group last night was told the team is likely to take at least a fortnight to analyse the Windsor Framework – meaning that key votes could happen before it reaches a conclusion.

The lack of any immediate pushback from the Tory Brexit wing is a significant boost for Mr Sunak, as the DUP considers whether to get on board with the plans and resume powersharing at Stormont.

The premier has warned unionist leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who was a guest at the ERG meeting, that the package cannot be renegotiated, and will go ahead regardless of whether he approves.

It would bring Northern Ireland back under UK tax rules, wipe out most checks in the Irish Sea, and introduce a ‘Stormont Brake’ on new EU laws.

But DUP chief whip voiced serious doubts about the agreement this morning, dismissing the brake as a ‘delaying mechanism’

There are also claims that Boris Johnson has decided he will not oppose the blueprint – but a source close to the ex-PM denied that, saying he is ‘still studying and reflecting on the governments proposals’.

The DUP will take its time to consider the substance of the Windsor agreement rather than the Government’s ‘spin’, the party’s chief whip said.

Sammy Wilson declined to say whether that would take days or weeks, telling Times Radio: ‘As long as it takes us to, first of all, look at the substance of the deal rather than the spin which the Government has given.

‘We’ll be going back to the Government. We’ve already identified a whole range of things that the Government has claimed will happen, which we now know won’t happen because we’ve looked at the EU’s explanation of it.’

The DUP will not ‘have a kneejerk reaction’ to the deal, he added.

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