The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
A UNIQUE fund set up 20 years ago to invest public money in West of Ireland-based businesses, including 13 in Clare, has generated a return of almost two-and-a-half times its original value and helped provide Ireland’s economy with a €3.3 billion boost, new research has revealed. An analysis into the socio-economic impact of the Western Development Commission’s Western Investment Fund was carried out for the WDC by Indecon, Ireland’s leading independent economic research and consultancy organisation. Indecon says the fund has provided “an impressive contribution to economic activity in the Western Region and has made a significant contribution to the national economy”. It has achieved a financial return on investment of almost 2.5 times its original Exchequer allocation of €31.75m: the fund is currently valued at €73m and has been self-financing since 2010. The WDC Investment Fund provides seed and venture capital and loan finance to companies and community projects across Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Clare. It co-invests with private sector investors on a commercial basis …
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