At the Club’s evening meeting on 29th February, President Denis Neill welcomed Dr Stephen Farry, Minister for the Department of Employment and Learning, recalling that his last visit to the Club was as North Down’s Mayor. President Denis said that it was a pleasure to see Dr Farry return in his new capacity as Minister for a range of important functions, the success of which is vital to the future of Northern Ireland. In his address, Dr Farry acknowledged the many challenges facing the Northern Ireland community in terms of the economy, prevailing rates of unemployment and the increasing demands made by industry for an ever- widening skills base across the province’s workforce. At the same time, he suggested, the situation also offered excellent opportunities to revitalise the economy -particularly in the areas of tourism, IT and the creative arts. Dr Farry expressed confidence that Northern Ireland can-and will- meet the challenges and that the economy will recover.