Brown to announce innovation fund for the North

British chancellor Gordon Brown has confirmed that a new innovation fund for the North's industry would be made to available to a new Stormont Executive if it was formed.

The chancellor told MPs during is annual Budget announcement: “When the Northern Ireland Secretary and I meet all the Northern Ireland parties tomorrow morning, we will announce details of a new Northern Ireland innovation fund, a new fund for industry and jobs to be available for a restored Executive – the restored Executive we all want to see.”

However, the SDLP’s regional development spokeswoman, Margaret Ritchie, warned people they should cautious about extravagant promises and tough talk about what could be extracted from the Chancellor in a devolution package.

“The first thing we want the chancellor to do is fix the things the British government broke here, starting with the water service,” the South Down Assembly member said.

“But we have already seen that he has dazzled other parties with a few big numbers, while we had to point out that he was talking mostly about recycling money already committed.

“We will be seeking to isolate what genuinely new elements he has to offer to rebuild an economy shattered by decades of violence.

“We want new money from both the British and Irish governments to be ring-fenced so the public will know it is separate from what would otherwise be available to the Executive.

“We need to show that additional money will not just disappear into the woodwork in departmental budgets.”