A Waterford-based business group has found an imaginative way to promote links between small companies in Ireland and Wales.
Waterford In Business, which represents hundreds of exporting companies in the south-east, and its Welsh counterpart, Pembrokeshire In Business, might have been forgiven for arguing over the venue for their next convention.
Instead, in an inspiring display of cross-border co-operation, they decided to hold it on board the Stena Konigen Beatrix as it travels between Rosslare and Fish guard, and back again, on Thursday of next week.
Last year companies from both sides of the water came together for three days in Dungarvan and generated more than £50,000 worth of business, according to WIB manager Nicola Casey - and that's only the trade the organisation has been told about.
With a database of about 900 south-east companies, including a core of some 300 exporters, it can be difficult for WIB to keep tabs on the success or otherwise of its various initiatives.
However, in the three years of its existence, both it and its Welsh equivalent have successfully supported small businesses on a range of fronts.
The two companies were due to be wound down in March when initial funding under the EU's INTERREG II programme ran out, but the results of their efforts to date earned them a two-year extension.
Ms Casey says that over two years, the project cost about £200,000 but generated at least £500,000 worth of business in that time.
Practical assistance is offered on a range of fronts, from advice about the euro and Y2K to information about contracts put out to tender, to the businesses involved, many of whom have just three or four employees.
"We'll go and meet companies interested in looking at the Welsh export market," Ms Casey adds. "We'll then contact potential clients in Wales, explain to them what the company in Ireland does, and if they're interested in seeing the product we'll arrange for them to meet in Wales."
Welsh companies are in turn offered similar access to Irish markets, but they're not encouraged to take business from existing Irish operators, Ms Casey explains. For next week's AIB-supported "Celtic Convention", Irish companies will board at Rosslare and will hear details about ventures such as NORBIT, an IT training project operating between the Republic, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, before their Welsh counterparts board at Fishguard at lunchtime.
There are still places available for companies from the south-east who are interested in attending the event. Waterford In Business can be contacted at 058-45300.