BURREN Lowlands CLG was, has been approved funding of €182,786 for an enterprise development initiative which will create a focal point for activities to develop and attract additional jobs to the area of South Galway and North Clare. The allocation comes under the Enterprise Ireland Regional Enterprise Development Funds and will allow for a number of priority projects to advance in 2019.
The Burren Lowlands vision is to make the region a better place to live, work and visit by focussing on three key pillars, community, enterprise and tourism.
“This is the enterprise element of our strategy which we will be building on over the next three years with the expertise of a full time manager based in Gort, working with entrepreneurs and companies around the region” said Teresa Butler, voluntary project manager.
Burren Lowlands CLG and the new manager will be focussing on a number of key areas; the development of a co-working space in Gort, an associate centre to Kinvara, the strengthening of the Burren Biz network to become a network central to business growth in the area, carrying out an audit of empty commercial space and targeting remote workers from the East region who may wish to locate in the Burren Lowlands area.
Councillor Joe Byrne, who is committee member of BL and director of Burren Enterprise Centre in Kinvara, which currently accommodates 10 full and part-time hotdesk users, says this funding is the catalyst to drive on with the goals of the Burren Lowlands Live in and Work in agenda. He is encouraging all businesses in the region to become members of the Burren Biz Network and be part of this success story.
“Burren Lowlands acknowledge both Galway and Clare county councils for their wholehearted support for this initiative and also SCCUL for their ongoing advice,” he said.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.