Hub offers local business a world of opportunity

BUSINESSES that need a fast Internet connection to operate have been given an opportunity to build, grow and create employment in Dingle with the opening on Friday of the new Dingle Creativity & Innovation Hub.

The hub, located at the end of Cooleen, provides ‘ hot-desk’ working space and private offices where existing and potential new businesses can operate with the benefit of 1Gb internet connectivity, which is as fast as what’s available in any city in Europe.

The implications of this are significant. For example, it means that a business based in Dingle can provide services to a worldwide market, effectively operating as if they were part of a business based in New York, Sydney or anywhere else around the world. This means West Kerry-based companies can compete for contracts to provide services around the globe.

The Hub, which started as an idea just seven months was officially opened on Friday by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor who praised the initiative of the ‘meitheal’ involved in developing the hub, with the support of Udarás na Gaeltachta and Kerry County Council. Speaking at the launch Stiofán Ó Cualáin, Príomh Fheidhmeannach of Udarás na Gaeltachta welcomed eir’s contribution “Do bhí rud amháin ag teastáil, connectivity at the right price”, he said.

Minister Mitchell O’ Connor noted the recurring problem in rural Ireland of “young people being very well educated, going to college and never returning home”. The potential impact of the hub ripples through all of rural society: “Grandparents want to see their grandchildren grow up” she added.

The Hub aims to create over 100 full time jobs in five years, focusing on three key areas – music/ film-making, animation and Internet of Things (IoT). The Hub will place a significant emphasis on creativity and the role it can play in supporting and developing businesses.

The people behind the project are Mike Fitzgerald, Jim Garvey, Brendan Tuohy, Gary Delaney, John Sheehy and Ciarán Williams.

John Sheehy of Dingle Business Chamber was delighted with the launch. “We are ready to go now; we have already had a few enquiries,” he told The Kerryman.

The hub was in use on Bank Holiday Monday with some weekend visitors availing of the services to get some work done while they were in Dingle and thereby extend their stay by a day.

For more details on the services available and the rates, visit the website www.dinglehub.com.