Now there is a sentence I never thought I would write.

This week has seen the heads of government from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland unite in a call to the Coalition government to think again on cuts. They said their focus was on growth and too many cuts too soon would be counter-productive. "Only when there is clear evidence that the recovery is well established, and can be sustained, should significant fiscal tightening be implemented”.

They went even further and said that the Coalitions decision was “entirely the wrong approach for the economy and the vital public services upon which so many people depend. We therefore urge that the spending cuts are scaled back and phased in over a longer time period.”

Yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister came to Stormont Castle and said that he would think about a rethink. He promised not to "pull the rug from the NI economy".   He gave no assurances but said that “The first minister and deputy first minister raised with me in very clear terms their concerns about the possible impact of the deficit reduction plan we are setting out on capital expenditure in Northern Ireland".

When NICVA met with Peter Robinson and Martin Magennis last week we left reassured that they were united in putting forward the best possible case for Northern Ireland.  You can read more here. The letter inviting us to meet with FM and dFM gave us a good insight into their priorities.  We were asked to consider three things – how to grow the economy, effective public services and how to tackle disadvantage. That was encouraging for us too – it wasn’t all about cutting and there was a strong indication that OFMdFM aren’t interested in simply managing the cuts and standing still.  They want to think about doing things differently and making sure that disadvantaged communities don’t get left even further behind.

There is a huge reality check in all of this of course. The Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed the government’s determination to drive down the deficit. Any rethink might be on less severe cuts to capital or how the Coalition might consider the £18billion investment promise made at St Andrews which now looks like it will only be £9billion.   So while it’s encouraging to see the FM and dFM strongly stating our case, success for them will simply make a bad situation a little less bad.  In our sector we simply get can’t complacent about the strong messages we are sending out.

I’ve been thinking about the growing the economy question a lot recently.  There seems to be a unchallenged assumption that shrinking the public sector is somehow good for growing the private sector.  I’m not convinced. The disadvantaged communities and vulnerable people we work with in the sector need strong, effective and efficient public services. Yesterday afternoon, at the last of our spending review information sessions, David Sterling from DETI showed there was very little correlation between economic growth and a small public sector.  You can have a look at David’s excellent presentation here.

Then there is Terry Hooley.  Hooley is a Belfast legend. He was a pioneer of the hugely exciting punk scene and in the 70’s and 80's his record label Good Vibrations recorded The Undertones, Rudi, Stiff Little Fingers and The Outcasts.  I also discovered yesterday that he recorded the lesser know punk outfit Ask Mother – featuring NICVA’s esteemed Chairman Bob Stronge on bass guitar!   Anyone who has been in Terry’s company will know that at the centre of the vortex of chaos that surrounds him there is a man who cares deeply about Belfast and is proud of his home city.  Last night he launched his auto-biography and I remembered a conversation I had with him about the creative economy and the potential of Belfast to become an attractive city to invest in. Terry reckons music and creativity are our saviours.  To paraphrase “We don’t build ships anymore, we aren’t famous for our food like Paris, we aren’t famous for our fashion like Milan, but we make great music – we should export that.”   When even an old anarchist like Terry starts making suggestions about growing the economy we know we are in trouble...