Local business representatives have been hailing the IDA for its increase in visits this year.
The Industrial Development Authority’s figures show that in the first quarter of 2019, it’s facilitated five for Kilkenny – that’s the same amount of businesses to the county as in all of 2018.
Marion Acreman is President of Kilkenny Chamber and she’s also centre manager at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre. She’s been telling KCLR News “Any engagement with IDA is very positive, I can vouch for that personally, I think they’re working hard in the region this year. It’s what we need, we need good quality jobs and more of them so yes, we’d be very positive about it. They work in conjunction with the council, the local enterprise office & the chamber of commerce so it’s positive news & we need more of it.”
Ms Acreman adds “It’s good for the economy to having more people living & working in Kilkenny, there’s a huge attraction to living in Kilkenny, people are blown away by what Kilkenny has to offer. There’s a lot to be gained from relocating to & working from Kilkenny.”
Carlow has had three visits so far, up from one in the first quarter of last year.
Brian O’Farrell is President of Carlow Chamber and says such visits are very important for the county with two aspects to that “It’s promotion of the county, we can see they’re actively doing that across the world & we want to make sure they continue to do that and promote the counties. We’ve a lot of great skills, a great talent base, a lot of great businesses. The other side of it is we do want to see more companies come to Carlow and see more jobs in the area.”
Mr O’Farrell adds “The last advanced facility delivered in Carlow saw MSD coming, when we have that in a wide choice it means there also more opportunities for local indigenous companies to supply to but it also means more opportunities for Carlow people to live and work in the county, that makes a big difference rather than having them commute to Dublin or wider areas.”
