From adversity to advantage in 2018
The West and North West of Ireland is offering more people an escape from the pressures of Dublin with a lifestyle and career to match, according to the organisers of a major conference showcasing entrepreneurialism in the region.
And with increased infrastructure such as new motorways and connectivity being put in place, the West can offer a viable alternative to the economic might of the Dublin and Eastern region.
The One Region: One Vision conference to be held in Galway on November 28th, will focus on a burgeoning movement in the West of Ireland – a growing band of entrepreneurs, business people and risk takers.
And with the region’s designation by the EU as European Entrepreneurial Region 2018, the qualities of resilience and ambition to fuel entrepreneurship will be discussed by speakers and delegates.
The event is organised by the Northern & Western Regional Assembly, the body which administers European Union funding in the western region and co-ordinates regional planning, and by the Western Development Commission ( WDC), the agency responsible for economic development of the Western region
Speakers at the Salthill Hotel will include leading business figures and entrepreneurs including Harry Hughes, Portwest CEO and EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017.
The conference will hear that Dublin’s economic success has had an entirely unexpected impact on the West: it is potentially quickening the speed of economic development in rural Ireland as people seek an improved quality of life including cheaper housing and reasonable commuting times.
Other confirmed speakers are John Breslin (co-founder Galway Innovation District), Group Technology Editor of Independent News & Media (INM) Adrian Weckler and Michelle Murphy, director of national recruitment agency Collins McNicholas.
NWRA Director David Minton said: “To be a great entrepreneur, you have to be a bit of a fortune teller, able to read the proverbial tea leaves and predict what your customers will want before they know they want it.
“This conference, now in its second year, will showcase those people who do just that – the people who are job by job, enterprise by enterprise, helping to change the story here in the West of Ireland, helping to drive change and re-energise the region. More and more people are realising that not only is Dublin and the east becoming an unsustainably expensive, it is also not prudent to rely on the capital to drive the national economic agenda.
Ian Brannigan, CEO of the Western Development Commission, said: “local leadership is critical when it comes to creating economic growth and delivering jobs. We need to look to our communities to develop lasting growth for themselves.”