It’s the restoration of the “daily mundane task of governance” at Stormont which Joe Kennedy has cited as one of the finest moments of his 18-month tenure as US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs.
The change of administration in Washington DC means the 44-year-old politician and diplomat’s term will end in the coming weeks.
And speaking to the Irish News during his 10th - and last - official visit to the region since outgoing President Joe Biden handed him the role (which was seen as controversial at the time), he said it was a position he was “honoured and thrilled” to have carried out.
Son of Joseph P. Kennedy (who in 1988, while touring Divis Flats during a fact-finding mission to Belfast, told a British soldier to “go back to your own country”) and a grand nephew of assassinated US President John F. Kennedy, Boston-born Joe Kennedy III believes “lots has changed for the better” since he first arrived in Belfast in April 2023.
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“A huge amount of business development has taken place. Companies now see Northern Ireland as ripe for investment, cruises are coming in greater numbers, films are being made here.
“The biggest selling point to this place is simply its quality of life. You can raise a family here, get a good job, have easy access to the coastline.
“There are around 250 US-owned companies operating here, employing upwards of 30,000 people. They’re here because they believe in Northern Ireland and what it offers, and I have been able to use them as validators to other businesses
“The more we get Belfast on the radar and in their conversation, that an only accrue to Northern Ireland’s benefit.”
Kennedy - whose expectation was that he would transition out of his role anyway, even if the Democrats had retained the White House - insists potential future US investment to the north can only be enhanced by stable government.
He said: “What Northern Ireland needs to do now, more than anything else, is just grind out the daily mundane task of governance.
“Investors need to see that the institutions are up and running and are here to stay, to give them that reassurance and confidence.
“And right now, you’ve got it all. The pieces are all here.”
Kennedy said he tried to highlight dual market access as “an important proposition” - but maybe in the years ahead.
“Just because I was special envoy doesn’t mean that all of a sudden there’s gonna be billion dollar investments here. These things take time.
“When you look at sectors like precision manufacturing, medical devices, semi-conductors or chips, there are huge opportunities.
“But these are highly intensive capital investments to make, so companies are maybe taking a first fall footstep. To get them to invest will take time, some engagement and some massaging.”
And he also believes the NI special envoy position will be filled under the new Trump administration - though possibly not as an early priority.
“I do expect, without having an informed opinion, that he will fill the role. I haven’t had a conversation, but he did in the past, so probably will again.”
For now Kennedy, who is the fifth family member to serve as a diplomat/foreign envoy, says he is relishing speaking more time with his wife and two kids (aged 6 & 8), and in his day job as president at Citizens Energy, a non-profit energy company founded to help low-income families meet their basic energy needs.
And he leaves believing the mantra he has used in his time in Northern Ireland is the foundation as when he first entered politics in 2012 - that “every person deserves to be treated fairly, by each other and by their government”.
