The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphries, said today that her Department will unveil a dedicated regional enterprise plan for the North East in the coming weeks.
The Minister, who was in Drogheda’s Enterprise Hub The Mill this morning to officially launch a new app which allows users to find their nearest hub facility and book a desk space, said that the new enterprise plan will involve regional stakeholders working together to build a balanced regional recovery.
She added that this would be “….focussed on future enterprise development and sustainable job creation for the longer term all with the aim of providing more choice and reducing the commute for the workers in the region.”
“The Mill have been a leading light in providing state of the art working environments for entrepreneurs, they have now also installed four new sound proof, ventilated pods that will be available for people to rent at the touch of button” she said.
“I want to mention Ronan Whitty, Business Manager in the Mill for all of his work progressing the project over recent times.
“All of this is positive news and comes on the back of the latest CSO employment figures which saw employment grow by 8.5% last year and 29% since 2012 in the Mid-East region where Louth is located.
“It’s really encouraging to see so many additional jobs over the course of 2021. In fact, all 8 regions in Ireland recorded strong employment growth. Employment outside of Dublin increased by 156,800.
“A new record high in female participation suggests that remote working may have made our jobs market more accessible, creating greater opportunity for participation, now and in the future.
“Last week, my colleagues Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister Damien English launched the first of nine regional enterprise plans.
The Connected Hubs mobile app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android.
Local Fine Gael TD, Fergus O’Dowd, welcomed the announcement from Minister Heather Humphreys saying:
“The funding which delivered much needed funding to Louth projects in 202, including €67,500 for the Mill Enterprise Hub, will open to applications up until April 4th but applicants must express an interest to the Department before March the 4th.
More details can be found here https://www.gov.ie/en/service/16b47-connected-hubs-fund/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/en/service/c5849b-rural-funding/?section=connected-hubs-fund
