Irish eyes aren't smiling over the question of whether the Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board (IDB) will pay Shandwick for a $500,000 Fall media tour in the U.S. and Canada. Media analysis firm CARMA International is reviewing clippings and coverage generated by the October event to provide a third-party perspective on the value of the publicity Shandwick generated.
Shandwick was hired in September through the U.K. Central Office of Information (COI) to provide PR and public affairs for the IDB, according to documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice and obtained by PR NEWS.
CARMA's final campaign analysis was part of the Shandwick/IDB contract. Documents show that the IDB negotiated to pay Shandwick only if the Board certified (through CARMA) that the work was "carried out to the necessary standard."
Reports recently surfaced in the British press, however, that the IDB wasn't happy with the media tour results and would refuse to pay Shandwick for its work to trigger press coverage supporting U.S. investment in Ireland. The media blitz was aimed at showing that the time is ripe for foreign businesses to set up shop in Northern Ireland.
CARMA won't comment on its work but says it usually turns around reports of this kind within weeks of receiving final materials. Shandwick sent out a final report several weeks ago and met last week with the COI to move the review forward, sources say. The criticism of Shandwick's efforts is reportedly that they were exclusionary, courting only select media outlets.
Behind the Belfast Scene
The IDB contract with Shandwick was borne out of an economic investment strategy to promote $350 million worth of internal incentives for businesses to locate in Northern Ireland. Part of that included press attention focused on David Trimble, the first prime minister of Northern Ireland, who worked vehemently on the peace pact between the British and Irish governments.
Former broadcast veterans Maureen Santini and Richard Pollack, now Shandwick executives, traveled from the Washington, D.C., office to Belfast to spend a month acquainting themselves with the project and to plan news conferences and media stops for radio, TV and print, says John Gerrie, chief executive of Shandwick Regions. Neither exec would return our calls, but those close to the issue indicate that Shandwick is so far adamant the tour was successful.
Ironically, during the course of the 11-city media tour in spots as geographically and culturally divergent as Denver and Toronto, news broke that Trimble had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, adding another media relations piece to the promotional puzzle.
A spokeswoman with the IDB told PR NEWS last week that the organization is refusing to comment about the controversy, even to the European press which has framed the story within a broader political context. George Hamilton, who heads the IDB's communications, also did not return calls. (Shandwick, 011/44/171-408-2232; IDB, 44/1232-234488)