Economy of Northern Ireland - Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Heavy industry is concentrated in and around Belfast, although other major towns and cities also have heavy manufacturing areas. Machinery and equipment manufacturing, food processing, textile and electronics manufacturing are the leading industries. Other industries such as papermaking, furniture manufacturing, aerospace and shipbuilding are also important, concentrated mostly in the eastern parts of Northern Ireland. Of these different industries, one of the most notable is that of Northern Ireland's fine linens, which is considered as one of the most well-known around Europe.

Although its share of economic output has declined, manufacturing output in Northern Ireland has remained almost unchanged over the past five years, after a period of steep manufacturing growth between 1998 and 2001. However, this overall picture of health hides a dramatic shift in manufacturing priorities, with the decline of traditional industries, such as textiles and shipbuilding, at the expense of high tech and capital-intensive industries. In 2005, chemicals and engineering (both of which belong firmly to the latter group) were the only two manufacturing sub-sectors to record growth, whilst output of textiles fell by 18%.

Engineering is the largest manufacturing sub-sector in Northern Ireland, particularly in the fields of aerospace and heavy machinery. Bombardier Aerospace is the province's largest industrial employer, with 5,400 workers at five sites in the Greater Belfast area. Other major engineering employers in Northern Ireland include Bombardier Aerospace, Caterpillar, DuPont, Emerson Electric, Fujitsu, Northbrook Technology, Seagate and NACCO. Many of these manufacturers receive British government financial backing, and enjoy close academic and business links with Queen's University Belfast and the University of Ulster, of which Queen's University Belfast ranks as one of the best British universities for all engineering courses.

Belfast's famous shipyard, Harland and Wolff, which in the early 20th century was the world's biggest shipbuilder, suffered from intense international competition during the 1970s and 1980s and declined rapidly. During the 1990s the company diversified into civil engineering and industrial fabrication, manufacturing bridges and oil platforms. The company made an unsuccessful bid to build the Queen Mary 2, which it was hoped would re-stimulate the yard's shipbuilding business. The vast works on Queen's Island were downsized, with much of the land (including the slipway were RMS Titanic was built) sold off for redevelopment in the 2000s as the 'Titanic Quarter'- a new residential, commercial and high-tech industrial district. The modern, smaller yard employs only 800 people. H&W have not built a ship since 2003, but has seen workload increase through being involved in shipbreaking, ship repair and maintenance and conversion work. The company has also been active in the design and construction of offshore power generation equipment- both wind turbines and wave-action turbines.