Firstly, since when was I a southerner?
Not a surprise that BFS EWR had a stronger westbound point of sale as it Is not a major tourist or business destination (Bristol vs London similar for example). A weakened sterling further damaged the route no doubt. I have access to Load Factor data for DUB ORK SNN / EWR and the flight was holding its own from a load perspective.
Tourism Ireland does quite a good job in advertising Northern Ireland sights. Indeed I took my own kids to Cultra recently! Those who suggest that Visit Britain should promote the north need a geography lesson.... Northern Ireland not being part of Britain.
If you were Tourism Ireland, would you spend most of your money on a market with say 3000 seats daily (US - Dublin) or 200 seats daily (US - Belfast). The vast majority of non U.K. BFS seats are outbound holiday routes to Spain, rather than cities with significant inbound potential, so again, where would you promote?
Sadly, Belfast has an unfair stigma of 'is it safe?' That takes more than a generation to overcome.
The BFS CEO should worry about things in his control and keep out of politics.
Oh, and someone should correct the typos on his biography on the BFS Website.