Tag Archives: Western Development Commission

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 …

RESEARCH involving Clare natives at NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission (WDC) shows that the vast majority of employees favour some form of remote working. The National Remote Working Survey was led by Professor Alma McCarthy from Labasheeda who is Head of the JE Cairnes School of Business and Economics and Tomás Ó Síocháin, CEO of the WDC, a native of Quin. The survey is the second of its kind since the pandemic began and found that among those who could work remotely, 95% were in favour of doing so on an ongoing basis. The majority of those, 53%, said they would like to work remotely several times a week, 32% said they would like to work fully remotely and 10% several times a month. The number of people who would like to work fully remotely (32%) has increased substantially from the first national survey conducted in April 2020 when it stood at 12%. The figure of 95% is …

TULLA-based company Beckman Coulter is among the West of Ireland firms who are hoping to attract staff looking to relocate in the wake of the pandemic. It comes as the Western Development Commission (WDC) launched a new online jobs portal aimed at attracting professionals and their families to make new lives in Clare and the western region generally. The site, WesternJobs.ie, will help job seekers to find open roles across the region and assist employers in gauging the availability and depth of skills that they require. Commenting, Orlaith Lawler, Senior Director of Beckman Coulter, said her organisation welcomed the chance to be involved. “We are delighted to feature the open roles that we have available here at Beckman Coulter on Westernjobs.ie,” she said. “The portal will act as a one-stop shop to help attract the best talent to the West of Ireland. At Beckman Coulter, we have numerous opportunities for talented, ambitious people.” Quin native and CEO of WDC Tomás Ó Síocháin, said the initiative …

CLARE is among the counties hardest hit by the economic fall-out of the pandemic, a new report from the Central Bank and the Western Development has found. This county, along with eight others along the western seaboard, comprise what is called the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC). The research highlights the reliance in this county on very small businesses in sectors like tourism and cautions that this could affect economic recovery into the longer term. It also finds there are fewer job opportunities arising in Clare for those whose employment has ended due to Covid-19 restrictions. The report entitled, ‘The Regional impact of COVID-19: Western Region & Atlantic Economic Corridor,’ underlines the crucial role played by policies such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) in supporting household incomes and firms this county. “A concentration of jobs in consumer-facing sectors such as tourism and accommodation mean that workers in these counties have been adversely affected by …