Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer risked being upstaged during his two-day trip to Northern Ireland.
Clashing with a dual Irish government visit by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin was far from ideal in any Labour Party efforts to gain favourable headlines.
But the Stormont party delegations and business leaders who held bilateral meetings with Sir Keir at Parliament Buildings recognised the importance of his trip.
