Andrew takes a duke behind the IT scenes

April 18, 2006

Newsletter - March 17, 2006

Baron Killyleagh - one of the names given to Prince Andrew when he married Sarah Ferguson in 1986 - is on a two-day visit to Northern Ireland.

The Duke of York, as he's better known, will today take part in St Patrick's Day celebrations and hopefully get a chance to wet the shamrock at some stage.

A highlight of the day will be a visit by His Royal Highness, Colonel of The Royal Irish Regiment, to the regiment's 4th Battalion in Omagh.

Yesterday, Prince Andrew started his latest trip to the Province by visiting Liberty Information Technology, which produces software for it's US-based parent company, insurance giant Liberty Mutual Group, at its Adelaide Street premises, in Belfast.

Liberty IT was established in the Province's capital in 1997 "because of the quality and availability of technical and management personnel in Northern Ireland", this according to Managing Director William Hamilton, who escorted the Duke of York on a tour of the high-tech firm’s Adelaide Street premises.

Mr Hamilton described the visit as a "great honour" which reflected the considerable achievements of Liberty IT’s 190 staff in recent years.

"There was great excitement when we got word we were having a special visitor, and everyone has been delighted to find out this morning it was the Duke of York" he said.

One of the staff with who the father of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie chatted candidly was the 28-year- old Londoner, Joe Hart.

"I lived in London for 25 years and never met a member of the Royal Family and then I come to Belfast and meet Prince Andrew at my desk. He asked me about the programme I was working on – it’s quite complicated, but hopefully it made a bit of sense."

At the end of his tour, a large crowd of Liberty IT’s staff gathered to meet the Duke and given the number of people who turned up, he voiced his concern at "level of productivity".

However, even the most hard-nosed of bosses had presumably lost track of time on what was a royal day at Liberty IT.