Entrepreneurs and business leaders gathered to develop an ambitious strategy for creating a vibrant new economy in a region hit hard by recession, writes CARL O'BRIEN, Chief Reporter, in Tullamore
THERE’S NO limit to the vaulting ambition of Paddy Dunning. The Westmeath-based businessman who co-owns the National Wax Museum is planning to build a seven-storey wooden statue of Gulliver on the shores of Lough Ennel, opposite the real-life village of Lilliput that inspired Jonathan Swift.
“This will be the largest statue in Europe and will be an internationally recognised feature. I see it as an iconic symbol for the midlands, comparable to the Ha’penny Bridge in Dublin or the Cliffs of Moher in the west,” says the 45-year-old businessman.
“We’re like the secret jewel of Ireland here, but people don’t know what the area as to offer.”
Tourists – some 100,000 a year, he reckons – will be able to climb up inside the 25m (82ft) high structure and take in panoramic views of the Westmeath countryside.
The statue, to be made of wood, stained glass and copper, would also house a museum dedicated to Gulliver’s Travels.
Dunning was one of 70 business owners and entrepreneurs who gathered in Tullamore yesterday for a day of workshops on “Creating the new midlands economy”, part of a bid to breathe life into job creation in the region.
It was a day for the dedicated to discuss ambitious plans for the region and for pulling together a blueprint on how the region can harness its full potential over the coming years.
Towns such as Tullamore, Mullingar and Athlone, along with their hinterlands, have been among those hardest hit by the recession.It’s bite has been deeper here because of the heavy dependence on construction. Half-empty retail parks and vacated shops in some of the surrounding towns are a jolting reminder of how the ripple effect has strangled the wider economy.
But there are also the lesser-known stories of firms that are growing, innovating and hiring new staff, even in the teeth of the recession. Business leaders came together to share stories of quiet success and lessons learned over recent years, but also to help carve out a future.
“Jobs follow enterprise,” says Gabriel d’Arcy, Bord na Móna’s chief executive, who organised the conference in conjunction with the Atlantic Corridor organisation. “There’s been a lot of talk of the Government’s jobs initiative. But it’s entrepreneurs and innovators who create jobs by creating enterprise. So, we’re taking responsibility.”
Executives and entrepreneurs spent much of the day identifying strengths and weaknesses of the midlands area and examining potential for new industry in areas such as food, technology, tourism and leisure.
With guidance from industry experts such as Jim O’Hara of Intel and Dick O’Sullivan of Kerry Group, the day produced ideas which could deliver thousands of jobs within the five to seven years if supported by job creation agencies and the private sector.
Even in the midst of the sharp downturn, there have been stories of real success. When Kieran Walsh was looking for a location to set up his flat bread company 18 months ago, the final decision was easy to make. “We looked at more than 40 sites around the country,” says Walsh, co-founder of the Flat Bread Company. “We settled on Clara, Co Offaly. We can deliver to Galway in an hour, Dublin in just over an hour, Cork in an hour and a half. To export to the UK, we can send a truck from here at 3pm in and it’s there by 9pm. It just made perfect sense.”
The results so far have been dramatic. The company has expanded to employ 32 and is supplying hundreds of thousands of pizza bases to Domino’s in the UK and Ireland. It has recently started producing fresh tortilla bread and wraps for the Irish market which, up until recently, were imported.
“People wondered if we were insane starting up a business when we did,” says Walsh. “There’s a lot of doom and gloom about, but . . . take the risk and go for it. We have a 10-year plan and we’re going to stick with it.”
Few, though, are under any illusions of the uphill task that awaits. With little by the way of money in public coffers, any developments will require input from the private sector. Plans discussed at the conference will underpin a document which the conference organisers say will be valuable as policymakers look for ways of attracting jobs to the area.
Business owners like Vincent Cleary, managing director of organic dairy food producer Glenisk, says drawing up plans will be crucial in plotting a way forward for the midlands. “Will this alone kick-start the midlands region? I’d be sceptical about that. But it helps to have like-minded people looking at what we can all do,” Cleary says.
It’s not all about attracting foreign direct investment. Sometimes, the smallest of ideas have the biggest potential. Cleary’s father set up the company on the family farm outside Tullamore in the late 1980s. Over the past 15 years, it has carved out a niche and now employs 42 and is continuing to grow. “He showed what you can achieve from very small beginnings. I’d say to anyone . . . that we can do great things. Be amibitious, determined and take people’s ideas on board. We can all learn from that.”