Multinationals are choosing rural Ireland, writes Gabrielle Monaghan, and many executives are not deterred by the likelihood of earning less money

Weary professionals are increasingly quitting Dublin in favour of a quieter life in country towns, encouraged by a wave of multinationals choosing rural Ireland instead of the capital for their Irish operations, according to a recruitment company chairman.

"There is a significant movement towards the regions from Dublin," says Pádraic White, executive chairman of Collins McNicholas, a recruitment firm founded in Galway 16 years ago.

"This trend started four or five years ago and has accelerated recently."

The words carry added weight, possibly, because White was previously the man heading up development agency IDA Ireland.

He was managing director of the IDA in the decade to 1990, when the development authority was involved in the campaign to establish the Irish Financial Services Centre as well as encouraging companies such as IBM and Intel to set up their European operations in Ireland.

"Some people spend three or four hours commuting to and from Dublin, and then start asking themselves what life's all about," White says. "They realise the west of Ireland is not such a desert after all, and that they could sell their home for half a million and buy one in the west for a quarter of million and have some money in the bank."

Money is not always the motivation behind moving to the country - almost two out of three executives surveyed by Collins McNicholas last year took a pay cut or received the same salary when they moved to the north-west.

About 96 per cent of those polled, most of whom have some third-level education, said they would recommend relocating to Donegal, Leitrim or Sligo.

The medical devices, manufacturing and financial services sectors account for 58 per cent of the employers in the north-west, the survey showed.

"You have financial services companies locating in places like Athlone and Letterkenny, so there's a wider range of jobs available," White says.

Almost two-thirds of the 71 IDA Ireland-supported investments by foreign companies last year were outside Dublin last year. US financial firm BISYS chose Waterford as its base for a hedge fund operation, creating 250 jobs, while AXA Assistance picked Athlone for its second Irish business.

Galway attracted more medical technology companies, including Respironics and Labcoat Ltd, and Toucan chose Sligo for its new 300-person customer service centre.

Collins McNicholas, which has offices in Dublin, Cork, Sligo, Athlone and Galway, is one of the recruitment companies recommended by the IDA when multinational companies are considering setting up shop in Ireland.

The company has more than 100,000 CVs in its database.

"We act as an independent source of information on labour supply and availability," White says. "For instance, we can say that there are so many people with these skills in Athlone and so many who are prepared to move there.

"Also, if we need a specialised technician for the pharmaceutical industry, we can flash that through our network across our offices."

Still, in times of full employment, competition between recruitment agencies to fill vacancies is heating up and the availability of foreign nationals for these jobs is becoming increasingly important, according to White.

Collins McNicholas's Dublin office is filling about 60 per cent of its vacancies with foreign workers, White says. Indeed, half of the 86,000 extra people in employment in Ireland last year were born outside the country.

"For the foreseeable future, we will need a high proportion of foreign nationals to keep the momentum going. Accountants, engineers, quantity surveyors - they are all in demand now. Even the Transport 21 initiative will need specialist rail and road construction workers."

Surging demand for workers in a tight labour market is leading to the creation of more recruitment agencies, some of who only entered the industry for short-term gain, says White .

"There are a lot of cowboy operators out there," he adds.

"They are sending out CVs like confetti. We only advance a CV to a client if we feel the candidate has a 90 per cent chance of getting the job. Plus, we may put forward three or four people rather than 10.

White believes that after the economic downturn in 2001, we are only now seeing another peak of new entrants to the recruitment industry, White says.

"As the pressure to find people intensifies, more people are getting into the industry."

About a third of companies in the recruitment sector went out of business and many others struggled to survive after the hiring market collapsed, a demise due in part to the dotcom crash. Collins McNicholas survived the fallout and now employs 25 consultants. It plans to add three more consultants to its Dublin office this year.

The company also intends to link up with associates in other countries to make it easier to recruit foreign nationals. It used to have an associate in India, where there are "excellent English-speaking nurses and radiographers" but was forced to abandon the effort after it was held back by bureaucracy, White says.

While Collins McNicholas operates at the high end of the labour market, filling specialist jobs, White also is involved on a voluntary level with a number of organisations that focus on tackling joblessness in disadvantaged areas.

One of those is the Northside Partnership, which has eight centres on the northside of Dublin that employ mentors to guide the disadvantaged through programmes and help make them attractive job candidates.

The centres are based in areas such as Coolock, Baldoyle and Darndale, and cater to a region with a population of about 100,000, according to White.

Last year, 60 people were given retail training in a 24-week programme with Tesco's Clare Hall outlet. "The programme was set up out of the discovery that a rising tide doesn't lift all boats," says White, who is chairman of the partnership.

"As the economy prospered, disadvantaged areas became a massive core of unemployment. Even in times of full employment, we have an average of 150 people a week coming forward. They may lack confidence, or be an ex-offender, or have alcohol or drug problems."