IDA ignores Ennis 'hub', says local industry lobby

IDA Ireland was yesterday accused of failing to capitalise on Ennis's status as Ireland's Information Age Town in not attracting new jobs to the location.

Designated as a "hub" town in the recently published National Spatial Strategy, it emerged yesterday that Ennis has benefited from only 48 jobs announced by the IDA since 1986, of which only eight exist today.

Also, since 2000, Ennis has lost more than 400 light industrial jobs with no replacement industries identified while Ennis has continued to develop as a dormitory town with 4,500 people travelling to work each day to Limerick and Shannon.

The continuing erosion of Ennis's industrial base and the alleged lack of support from the IDA has provoked a strong reaction.

A local task force, Industry Ennis, has urged the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, to investigate the manner in which the IDA promotes Irish cities and towns to overseas investors.

Mr Joe Saunders, a member of the Industry Ennis delegation that met Ms Harney on Tuesday to discuss the issue, said yesterday: "Since January 1999, 27,000 jobs have been announced nationally by the IDA but none for Ennis. In that period, 66 overseas companies have visited the mid-west region of which only six were brought to Ennis by the IDA."

Mr Saunders said the number of IDA-sponsored itineraries of potential investors going through Ennis did not represent an adequate response to the serious decline in the town's industrial base.

He said: "While the population of the town has mushroomed, the number of opportunities within Ennis itself has declined. Nationally, the IDA has done a great job, but it simply has not happened in Ennis, despite the obvious advantages of the town's designation as Ireland's Information Age Town."

Industry Ennis is made up of Shannon Development, the Ennis Chamber of Commerce and the local authorities in the county.

With Shannon Development due to start work on a €140 million technology park in the new year in Ennis to exploit Ennis's Information Age Town status, Mr Saunders said: "We need the IDA to change tactics to create job opportunities. The time is opportune with the development of the technology park."

A spokeswoman for the Tánaiste said last night that "any suggestion that Ennis is discriminated against by State agencies is totally unfounded", adding that Ennis would continue to be promoted as a location for investment.

This was echoed by a spokesman for the IDA who last night said the agency refuted the comment that it discriminated against the Co Clare town.

He pointed out that "Government policy has priority focus on delivering economic development to the Objective One regions" which does not include Co Clare.

He added: "It is the region itself that ultimately wins or loses on investment decisions because of its strengths and weaknesses, not just the work of IDA. We have committed to continuing our international promotional activity of the region to the highest level."