Millmount Development Centre to close

MILLMOUNT Development Centre, which provide office space for a number of small enterprises, is to close it has been revealed.

The centre was started in 2004 as a small enterprise centre providing support for start up companies in Drogheda after the pressing need for incubation and innovation support facilities in Drogheda was identified in the Bacon Report.

It was a joint initiative between Louth County Council, Dundalk Institute of Technology and the County Enterprise Board and currently houses approximately eight small businesses.

However, last week it was revealed that the board of directors have decided to wind up the company in 2017 with tenants given a deadline of September 30th to vacate their premises.

Local TD Fergus O’Dowd has criticised the move claiming the centre should not close when the second phase of The Mill is already full.

‘It is unacceptable that they would close down a facility that is encouraging new entrepreneurs,’ he said. ‘ They are suggesting that the businesses might relocate to the regional centre in Dundalk which means they will be moving out of Drogheda to another town. The Mill in Drogheda has been extremely successful but the second phase of it is already full, apart from 10 hot desks which are not permanent spaces. We need Phase 3 of the Mill to go ahead and until then I think they must keep the enterprise centre at Millmount open.

‘It works, it’s efficient, it’s a building that is owned by the council so there is no rent to be paid,’ he said.

He also criticised the fact that to board of the centre does not have anyone from Drogheda on it and instead is made up of representatives from Louth County Council, DKIT, Meath LEO and Enterprise Ireland.

The Millmount Development Centre consists of two refurbished houses with eight self-contained spaces, each measuring 25square metres, which support desk-based enterprises, mainly in Software Development and ICT.