On Wednesday 27 January, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Laurens Westfhoff gave a diner in Belfast for 80 Northern Irish and Dutch guests. The occassion marked the "Fresh from Holland" trade mission of 10 Dutch companies in the food and agriculture industry. The menu was entirely composed out of Dutch ingredients specially supplied by the Dutch participants.















Earlier in the day, the Dutch agriculture participants met with 90 potential Northern Irish business partners. The Dutch Ministry of Food and Agriculture organised the summit in Belfast. Although acting first minister Arlene Foster had a busy schedule, she found time to visit the summit and meet with the Dutch traders and view their products. She welcomed the enhanced trade relations between the Netherlands and Northern Ireland wholeheartedly.

That the Dutch and Northern Irish can work alongside each other perfectly was proven when the planned dinner suddenly had to be relocated. The original location, Hillsborough Castle, was not available due to the ongoing negotiations between various Northern Irish political parties, British prime minister Gordon Brown and Irish prime minister Brian Cowen. Within the hour a new, possibly more beautiful, location was found through a joint effort.