Northern Ireland

Belfast Harbour’s latest five-year strategic plan confirms several key developments as part of a combined capital investment programme of just over £250 million.

Stormont civil servants have warned that the development of Belfast is threatened by infrastructure constraints, the result of political paralysis and the absence of multi-year budgets for the services provided by the likes of NI Water.

Northern Ireland’s construction industry has given its starkest warning yet that failure to invest in water infrastructure is holding back housing and other development as well as contributing to the recession facing the sector.

Plans have surfaced for a £40 million industrial park project at Craigavon in County Armagh, which could involve a facility providing up to 20 units, each offering 2,322 square metres of floor space.