Opportunities for Clare in Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan
Business and Local Government representatives from across Clare this week joined Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys for the launch the Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan, aimed at supporting enterprise growth and job creation in the region through collaborative initiatives.
Reaffirming government commitment to regional enterprise growth, she was joined at the launch event by Minister Patrick O’Donovan, Minister Michael Ring and Minister Pat Breen.
Pat Dowling, Chief Executive of Clare County Council believes that the public-private partnership approach adopted by the plan provides real opportunities for employment and enterprise growth in Clare.
“The public-private partnership approach that the Action Plan for Jobs created allowed us to move forward with our plans for a Marine Enterprise Zone in Cahercon, creating new employment opportunities in an emerging global growth market for Clare. Working with our partners in the development of this new Regional Enterprise Plan we have identified other sectors for growth across County Clare, including autonomous vehicles and remote working,” he commented.
Liam Conneally, Director of Economic Development, Clare County Council, said, “The market for Connected Autonomous Vehicles and Mobility Services is estimated to be worth €1,015tn globally by 2035. Ireland has the opportunity to be at the forefront of this mobility revolution, with the Mid-West region at the helm. Extending along the Atlantic Corridor connected between Galway and Limerick along the M18, encompassing the entire county of Clare, we are home to a plethora of global market leaders. The opportunity is not just large, it is very real. The plans that Clare County Council have already developed in the creation of Data Centre capacity for the region is already complementary to achieving this.”
“Similarly, Clare County Council has invested in creating a network of e-hubs across the county,” added Mr. Conneally. “With advances in technology, changing employment trends, the arrival of millennials into the workplace, shortages in talent and a greater focus on work-life balance, there is a significant rise in the number of people seeking flexible remote working. While e-working still encompasses employees working remotely from their office, e-working can now extend to capture new and emerging employment trends including digital nomads and e-lancers. We look forward to working with our public and private partners to advance this emerging employment opportunity for County Clare.”
Meanwhile, Barry O’Sullivan, Global Manufacturing Platform Lead for J&J Vision, believes the partnership framework facilitated by the plan is a unique national-local government, public-private partnership approach.
He continued, “Collaboration is the new buzz word. But translating it into reality is a real challenge for most businesses; never mind across multiple organisations spanning the public and private sectors. Luckily it’s something we do very well in the Mid-West. I want to thanks the three Local Authority Chief Executives for their leadership, and their willingness to work in partnership with other public bodies and private sector experts. The economic benefits of these collaborations have impact; to date we have accessed over €9.4m in funding to deliver five game-changing projects, which will support the creation of up to 2,000 jobs over the coming years.”
“Our unemployment rate is now 5.6%. There are over 211,000 people at work. The Mid-West is Ireland’s fastest growing investment location. Half a million people live here, we contribute €15bn to the Irish economy annually, and are home to over 20,000 companies. You can successfully invest here, live here, be educated here, safely and affordably raise a family here, build a rewarding career here. We need to continuously and effectively get that message out.
“Ireland is an island economy on the periphery of Europe. The population of our entire country is less than European cities such as Munich or Barcelona; or half the size of cities most people are not familiar with, such as Qingdao in China and Chennai in India. There is a lot of global uncertainty at the moment, especially BREXIT. If our region is to continue to compete and win internationally we have to build on our unique assets and strengths and work toward greater inclusivity, giving everybody equal access to both education and employment. This Plan gives us a pathway to convert opportunities and build resilience,” concluded Mr. O’Sullivan.
Page last reviewed: 25/02/19
Back to topThis is just for feedback on our web site, not comments or questions about our services.
To tell us about anything else, go to our contact us pages.