Among the delegation meeting the comptroller last week were General Jim Cullen, Sean Downes and Steve McCabe of the Brehon Law Society.
A separate recent meeting brokered by Steve McCabe brought together Ambassador Niall Burgess, Consul General of Ireland in New York, with the comptroller and his deputy, Mary Louise Mallick.
Irish American organizations applauded the decision earlier this year of New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson to invest $150 million in the Emerald Fund for Northern Ireland. Thompson has stressed that the New York pension funds should go to the areas and communities in the North of Ireland which suffered most during the years of conflict in order to underpin the peace.
Now New York State, which has been engaged in a thorough due diligence process since DiNapoli visited the Northern Ireland investment conference in May – and when he also traveled into West Belfast to meet with community leaders and the area’s MP Gerry Adams – may be about to follow the Thompson lead.
“I was delighted that Comptroller DiNapoli reached out to Irish America to continue the discussion on investing in the North even in these difficult economic times,” Steve McCabe told the Irish Echo.
“It could be argued that an investment in the North is likely to pay off better than some of the more traditional areas favored by the pension funds.
“Tom has a fiduciary responsibility to make money and that’s not an easy task these days but our message was that Northern Ireland is a good prospect and monies invested carefully in sustainable projects, and in accordance with the MacBride Principles, can make a return,” McCabe said.
Meanwhile, the effort to match New York City’s investment plan with a similar commitment from New York State is likely to have been boosted by this week’s news of a political deal between the main governing parties in Belfast.