Northern Ireland hopes to entice home experienced IT professionals who live in the Republic or Britain. The "Back to Your Future" initiative was launched in Belfast yesterday by Sir Reg Empey and Dr Sean Farren, trade and employment ministers in the Executive. Its aim is to encourage experienced IT personnel with three to five years experience to return and work in the North where they are in short supply.

Officials estimate there are between 5,000 and 6,000 people with the relevant experience working abroad or in the Republic but say there was no target figure for the number they want to attract home.

The £100,000 sterling campaign is part-sponsored by Nortel Networks and Eircom NI. An e-mail magazine highlighting the opportunities available in the North as well as recent changes in lifestyles and society will be sent to interested workers as part of the campaign.

A party for returning IT professionals will be held in Belfast on December 18th and there will be exhibitions at Heathrow airport in the week before Christmas and at Aldergrove airport the week after Christmas.

At the introduction of the programme and its associated website, www.backtoyourfuture.co.uk, Dr Farren said the electronics sector in the North "currently employs around 10,000 people, and forms the major component of a sector with a turnover in excess of £1 billion sterling (€1.68 billion). It is also positioned for significant growth".

Dr Farren said there were 1,500 Northern students graduating in the field every year but to "avoid inhibiting profitable development and growth" those with experience had to be attracted back. He said he believed that when they took the benefits of good schools and cheaper housing into account, many could be persuaded to come home.

Sir Reg said that, during the past year alone, 4,300 jobs had been created in the sector. "The future has never looked better or the opportunities for economic growth from the new information technologies more exciting," he said.