Grant of €1.9m after successful Strandhill application
FUNDING for a new enterprise campus in Strandhill was part of an overall announcement by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys on Monday. IN all, 21 applicants were approved the offer of funding totaling just over €29 million.
THE winners were selected through a rigorous evaluation process based on criteria which included impacts and value for money, collaboration and participation, viability and sustainability, building regional strengths and significance for innovation.
Sligo County Enterprise Fund CLG, was offered €1,906,640 towards its planned extension if its enterprise park on the Airport Road in Strandhill.
Aidan McKenna, Regional Director, Border Region, Enterprise Ireland said: “Supporting enterprises to build scale and expand reach is a key focus of Enterprise Ireland and the Regional Enterprise Development Fund helps us to further drive growth in key sectors in counties across the country, particularly in the context of Brexit.
This second call which was launched in May attracted very strong interest, receiving a total of 77 applications.
“Sligo County Enterprise Fund CLG is one of the companies that has received an offer of funding and I would like to congratulate them on their successful application and look forward to seeing the difference this funding will make on the ground as they set about developing the initiative.”
Deputy Tony McLoughlin said:“This is great news for Strandhill and it is a testament to the strong applications that were submitted by the local committees involved. It is yet another solid investment in Strandhill by the Fine Gael Government.
“As a Government we need to continually challenge ourselves on how to create jobs outside of the main cities.
“That’s exactly what this fund does. It will directly support innovative projects in our regions and, in doing so, help to create rural jobs.
The jobs recovery is finally spreading into the regions with over 1,200 new jobs announced in Sligo this year. In the last twelve months, four out five jobs created were outside Dublin and the live register figures in all of our regions are heading in the right direction.
“There’s still a long way to go and no room for complacency. I look forward to working with Minister Humphreys on more regional jobs initiatives for Sligo and Leitirm.”
Minister Humphreys said: “The Irish economy has had a remarkable turnaround in recent years, but we cannot become complacent. Although we have made a lot of progress with three out of five jobs created outside Dublin since we launched the Regional Action Plan for Jobs, some parts of the country are not recovering as quickly as others. The Regional Enterprise Development Fund is about supporting every region to build on its unique strengths and ultimately create sustainable jobs.”