Areas in Ireland doing well

mariaalice · 11-09-2014 9:54am #1

How come some town and areas in Ireland are doing so much better that others, for example I was in Dungarven recently and its doing very well you don't see the boarded up shops etc you see in say some towns in the midlands. It the same with Waterford. It might be to do with having a wealthy hinterland and to always been well a developed area and maybe to do with having a more diverse economy, tourism farming and manufacturing. Its not something that can be replicated no matter how much the investment.

Visiting various areas in Ireland its amazing the difference economically in areas considering Ireland is so small.

BoJack Horseman · 11-09-2014 10:48am

There could be so many factors in play.

Tourism.... Scenery, beauty etc.
Competence of local authorities.

Even the education, background of the people living there all play a part.

gaius c · 11-09-2014 11:54am

mariaalice wrote: »

How come some town and areas in Ireland are doing so much better that others, for example I was in Dungarven recently and its doing very well you don't see the boarded up shops etc you see in say some towns in the midlands. It the same with Waterford. It might be to do with having a wealthy hinterland and to always been well a developed area and maybe to do with having a more diverse economy, tourism farming and manufacturing. Its not something that can be replicated no matter how much the investment.

Visiting various areas in Ireland its amazing the difference economically in areas considering Ireland is so small.

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

Aimeee · 11-09-2014 12:02pm

I think any town/city that has a strong tourist economy is wealthy. Lots of double incomes there, ie many (not all) might have some way of making money in tourist season as well as the real job, ie rental property etc.
I agree that it's something that cannot be invested in if the footfall doesn't come in the first place.

porsche959 · 11-09-2014 12:04pm

Always thought Waterford city and county was among the worst affected, possibly they have bounced back slightly but it's a long way back.

chopper6 · 11-09-2014 3:04pm

Dungarvan people are not shy about fleecing visitors.

I had the misfortune to stay on a campsite there a while back...you had to pay a surcharge for everything you can imagine and it was jam packed.

Likewise the local supermarket seemed to be charging whatever they felt like to their captive audience.

mariaalice · 11-09-2014 3:52pm

gaius c wrote: »

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

Have you ever actually been to a small rural town in the north west? and compared it to Waterford. The museums are fantastic and were packed when I was there and they bring a big foot fall in to that part of the city and lots of them were having lunch coffee etc increasing the spend in Waterford.

Geuze · 12-09-2014 2:32pm

Galway city publicans and restaurants.

Killarney hotels.

washman3 · 13-09-2014 9:36pm

gaius c wrote: »

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

Limerick city almost as bad now.
Only place doing reasonably well is the Cresent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle

Silentcorner · 13-09-2014 11:18pm

washman3 wrote: »

Limerick city almost as bad now.
Only place doing reasonably well is the Cresent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle

I don't know Washman, I'd have to disagree with that one.

I do know several companies across a varied spectrum of sectors (service/construction/supplies/finance) and they beg to differ too.

The local commercial property market has seen a lot of activity recently, indeed keep your eyes out for a lot of small construction/renovating jobs, I have noticed, even in the last few months that there are now sites on nearly every block in the city centre.

The Cresent is always/has always been busy, the low vacancy rate is testament to that, indeed there are three more units currently been kitted out.

The Ballysimon/Parkway area, from a retail point of view, is always strong, the main players out here are Harvey Normans/B@Q, TK Maxx and the like, they are performing strongly, there hasn't been a closure out here since Atlantic Homecare a number of years ago.

The unemployment rate in the city is lagging, but it always does, the recent job announcements (Regeneron/Ethicon etc) are only in the early stages, but I do believe that the jobs lost in Dell in 2009 have nearly all been replaced, with, it has to be said better positions. Expect some more good news in the coming months on that front also.

Tourism has increased fairly dramatically, I have heard a figure locally that it is up approx 25% on last year, this is reflected in the hotel room rates in the city which have increased by 12%, indeed, there has been a lot of activity in this sector also http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/bidding-blitz-for-five-star-limerick-city-hotel-1-6290195
http://www.newstalk.ie/Irish-hotel-room-rates-up-10-in-first-half-of-the-year

The problem in Limerick I believe is confidence, because we nearly always equate economic performance with our city centre, and employment figures, and how we feel as individuals, and from a retail/footfall point of view the city centre is the weakest of the three main retail areas of the city, feeding that personal feeling.

But, signficantly there have been a marked increase in the amount of restaurant and coffee shops opening in the city centre, normally a good indicator.

I'd be the first to be critical of any perceived upswing, we have heard the expression "turned the corner" now so many times it has lost all meaning. But we are in a different place now than we were in last year, I believe.

The recovery will be at it's most obvious in the cities as they are the economic driver of the regions. Limerick is playing it's part in that, how sustainable it is is anyone's guess.

fleet_admiral · 14-09-2014 4:13pm

Gorey always seems to be doing very well, especially when you compare it to its nearest town; Arklow.

Asdfghjkl987 · 14-09-2014 4:16pm

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Gorey always seems to be doing very well, especially when you compare it to its nearest town; Arklow.

Gorey would be a popular holiday spot during the summer while Arklow would be bypassed on the way

nice_guy80 · 14-09-2014 8:49pm

I think certain towns in the west along the Atlantic Way have had a good summer from increased tourist numbers. Up something like 10%

Berserker · 14-09-2014 9:18pm

Gorey has tourism and Waterford has the third level institute which is always going to bring money and breath life into a town or city.

johnnyskeleton · 15-09-2014 2:16am

mariaalice wrote: »

How come some town and areas in Ireland are doing so much better that others, for example I was in Dungarven recently and its doing very well you don't see the boarded up shops etc you see in say some towns in the midlands. It the same with Waterford. It might be to do with having a wealthy hinterland and to always been well a developed area and maybe to do with having a more diverse economy, tourism farming and manufacturing. Its not something that can be replicated no matter how much the investment.

Visiting various areas in Ireland its amazing the difference economically in areas considering Ireland is so small.

Not to be glib, but to answer your question as to why this is, wealth is usually created rather than simply existing ipso facto. So if town a is prosperous and town b is not, it is most likely the case that town a is more industrious or has made better use of its resources. Town b can respond positively by competing, or negatively by trying to gain for themselves by reducing the weath of town a.

road_high · 15-09-2014 10:27am

4 areas that are doing well have one thing in common; Tourism.

Kilkenny, Galway, Cork and Dublin cities are doing well, as is Killarney.

Rightwing · 15-09-2014 1:44pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Not to be glib, but to answer your question as to why this is, wealth is usually created rather than simply existing ipso facto. So if town a is prosperous and town b is not, it is most likely the case that town a is more industrious or has made better use of its resources. Town b can respond positively by competing, or negatively by trying to gain for themselves by reducing the weath of town a.

Or parish pump politics are at play.

nice_guy80 · 15-09-2014 5:09pm

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

Rightwing · 15-09-2014 5:18pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

That's where the bertie ahern/lowry/healy rae type figures come in. If a locality has one, they'll strangely enough get the services.

ballyharpat · 15-09-2014 10:36pm

Killarney is doing great, tourism is up, prices have risen in the hotels, more ads in the newspapers for full and part-time work. The main hardware trader is busy and has taken on more staff, houses are selling, the hotels are doing renovation/repairs which means (good) tradesmen are harder to get and their prices are rising.......they in turn are spending more on lunches and eating out etc-it's a very direct knock on effect here in Killarney......

johnnyskeleton · 15-09-2014 11:02pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

And more tourists want to go to Galway and Mayo. If thr tourist board tried to divert tourists away from connemara and towards rural Roscommon we wouldnt get many people comig back here. And tourism isnt based on a principle of "if you build it they will come"

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Well Roscommon people are free to try to change this.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

There are 3 by my reckoning. But in any case, what purpose would an extra stop between the Roscommon side of Athlone and just before ballinasloe serve? Its only about 10 miles and there arent any major towns on the way. After Ballinasloe there is about 20 miles before the next exit - so what about he poor west galway folk. In any event the n5 goes through a lovely part of roscommon and up towards sligo.

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

Yep, because thats where people want to go.

johnnyskeleton · 15-09-2014 11:05pm

Rightwing wrote: »

That's where the bertie ahern/lowry/healy rae type figures come in. If a locality has one, they'll strangely enough get the services.

So nothing to do with Galway and Mayos rich heritage including the gaeltacht, aran islands, westport, connemara, galway city, the atlantic ocean etc?

chopper6 · 16-09-2014 10:23am

ballyharpat wrote: »

Killarney is doing great, tourism is up, prices have risen in the hotels, more ads in the newspapers for full and part-time work. The main hardware trader is busy and has taken on more staff, houses are selling, the hotels are doing renovation/repairs which means (good) tradesmen are harder to get and their prices are rising.......they in turn are spending more on lunches and eating out etc-it's a very direct knock on effect here in Killarney......

Rising prices are not a good sign.

But then that's typical rural mentality..increase prices at the first sign of profit.

Rightwing · 16-09-2014 10:24am

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

So nothing to do with Galway and Mayos rich heritage including the gaeltacht, aran islands, westport, connemara, galway city, the atlantic ocean etc?

That's very low level analysis.

Galway is doing particularly well because of the BMW initiative. Areas like Donegal have the heritage, the scenery, whatever else you want to use as a selling point and there's massive unemployment & emigration there.

mariaalice · 16-09-2014 10:50am

The point is there are factors that cant be replicated in every area, no amount of investment by government will change that, often there are cultural factors and things that have arisen organically. Broadly speaking they are.. the area was relativity better off in the first place, they have mixed economy farming, tourism, and manufacturing and possibly a third level institution which means the area has a better and broader educated population. Tourism alone is not going to save anywhere.

Rightwing · 16-09-2014 11:17am

mariaalice wrote: »

The point is there are factors that cant be replicated in every area, no amount of investment by government will change that, often there are cultural factors and things that have arisen organically. Broadly speaking they are.. the area was relativity better off in the first place, they have mixed economy farming, tourism, and manufacturing and possibly a third level institution which means the area has a better and broader educated population. Tourism alone is not going to save anywhere.

Investment will trump every other factor combined. Some areas have been completely neglected and others have got too much investment. To my amazement it's only recently the IDA have come in for criticism in this regard.

Cool Mo D · 16-09-2014 2:28pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Investment will trump every other factor combined. Some areas have been completely neglected and others have got too much investment. To my amazement it's only recently the IDA have come in for criticism in this regard.

Investment isn't doled out by the government. Private companies decide where they want want to invest, and that's where they go. The IDA can try and attract companies to certain places, but it's not their decision at the end of the day.

nice_guy80 · 17-09-2014 7:39pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

And more tourists want to go to Galway and Mayo. If thr tourist board tried to divert tourists away from connemara and towards rural Roscommon we wouldnt get many people comig back here. And tourism isnt based on a principle of "if you build it they will come"

Well Roscommon people are free to try to change this.

There are 3 by my reckoning. But in any case, what purpose would an extra stop between the Roscommon side of Athlone and just before ballinasloe serve? Its only about 10 miles and there arent any major towns on the way. After Ballinasloe there is about 20 miles before the next exit - so what about he poor west galway folk. In any event the n5 goes through a lovely part of roscommon and up towards sligo.

Yep, because thats where people want to go.

Not arguing any of your points, we know Mayo and Galway have all those.

When there is so little promotion of Roscommon as a tourist destination in comparison to neighbouring counties, or signage to get off the motorway how as a county is it meant to develop its tourism

And I don't think changing the agricultural nature of the county is the responsibility of the locals. I'm sure central government, IDA, Enterprise Ireland could do something if they bothered

A lot of tourism is based on the advertising and promotion budgets

colossus-x · 17-09-2014 9:24pm

Airports

Godge · 17-09-2014 11:58pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Investment will trump every other factor combined. Some areas have been completely neglected and others have got too much investment. To my amazement it's only recently the IDA have come in for criticism in this regard.

No point in investing in scattered rural communities, the return on investment is too low.

johnnyskeleton · 18-09-2014 12:07am

Rightwing wrote: »

That's very low level analysis.

Galway is doing particularly well because of the BMW initiative. Areas like Donegal have the heritage, the scenery, whatever else you want to use as a selling point and there's massive unemployment & emigration there.

Im sorry but you are moving he goalposts here. You were suggesting that Galway and Mayo were getting better services (tourist investment) because of the Jackie Healy Rae types.

Your general position on this thread is that places are only doing well because certain TDs are feathering their own nests to the detriment of other areas. Yet your example of why Galway is doing well is because of BMW (i assume from a quick google that they have some autoparts factory there)? I dont fully understand your logic.

johnnyskeleton · 18-09-2014 12:12am

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Not arguing any of your points, we know Mayo and Galway have all those.

When there is so little promotion of Roscommon as a tourist destination in comparison to neighbouring counties, or signage to get off the motorway how as a county is it meant to develop its tourism

And I don't think changing the agricultural nature of the county is the responsibility of the locals. I'm sure central government, IDA, Enterprise Ireland could do something if they bothered

A lot of tourism is based on the advertising and promotion budgets

Well Lough Key is well advertised. Sadly no matter how much the French government advertises Reims tourism, people will always go to Paris instead. Sorry!

Rogaine2 · 18-09-2014 12:17am

Was in Portlaoise of all places recently - my goodness - thriving! Himself reckoned it was the legacy of Biffo.
Onto New Ross - I had been there maybe 15 years ago - every shop was closed down! Awful to see.

Rogaine2 · 18-09-2014 12:19am

nice_guy80 wrote: »

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

Why on God's green earth, would you want to stop in Roscommon?

colossus-x · 18-09-2014 2:50am

Rogaine2 wrote: »

Why on God's green earth, would you want to stop in Roscommon?

Well, to see God's green earth, obviously

Rightwing · 18-09-2014 9:11am

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Im sorry but you are moving he goalposts here. You were suggesting that Galway and Mayo were getting better services (tourist investment) because of the Jackie Healy Rae types.

Your general position on this thread is that places are only doing well because certain TDs are feathering their own nests to the detriment of other areas. Yet your example of why Galway is doing well is because of BMW (i assume from a quick google that they have some autoparts factory there)? I dont fully understand your logic.

No, that's in Germany I believe.

This is the initiative I'm referring to:
http://ec.europa.eu/ireland/the_eu_and_you/the_eu_in_your_county/county-reports-2013/galwaylow.pdf

Now, if that was rolled out to area like Waterford, I somehow suspect it will do more for the region than tourism.

fricatus · 18-09-2014 3:52pm

gaius c wrote: »

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

porsche959 wrote: »

Always thought Waterford city and county was among the worst affected, possibly they have bounced back slightly but it's a long way back.

mariaalice wrote: »

Have you ever actually been to a small rural town in the north west? and compared it to Waterford. The museums are fantastic and were packed when I was there and they bring a big foot fall in to that part of the city and lots of them were having lunch coffee etc increasing the spend in Waterford.

There's an element of truth in what all of you say. Certainly there's no doubt about which city was worst hit by the recession. The number of jobs lost in Waterford (which is heavily biased towards manufacturing) is startling. I don't have the figures to hand, but they were easily the worst in percentage terms in the country. This had a huge effect on the social life of the city, because there wasn't the level of public employment or services to cushion the blow that you see in other areas (that's another debate for you right there...)

However there has been a realisation here that nobody else is going to pick us up, and it has led to huge efforts being made in tourism and business circles lately. Since 2007-8 the number and quality of festivals in the city has grown hugely (the Tall Ships in 2011 was the mother of all festivals that I've seen, but Spraoi, the Harvest Festival just gone, and Winterval have all brought large numbers of visitor to the city).

Another factor was the loss of Waterford Crystal. There were 3,000 good jobs there in its heyday, and now there are maybe 50 or so? since its closure and takeover by a venture capital group. This was a traumatic blow, but the bit people don't ever seem to realise is that it's also one of the top 10 tourist attractions in the country, and the biggest in the south-east by quite a bit, with about 250,000 mainly American visitors IIRC. The loss to the economy if they went elsewhere was unthinkable, so the effort was made by the city council to have Waterford Crystal reopen as a small tourist attraction and shop in the city centre. Now the tourists, instead of being bussed to a factory on the outskirts, are encouraged to visit other historical attractions in the city centre, and they're reaping rewards now.

Of course we still have headwinds - mainly political, like the incredibly short-sighted decision to abolish Waterford City Council (which was instrumental in both the move of Crystal to the city centre and the Tall Ships festival), but there is a lot of good news on the horizon, e.g. this.

Brighter days ahead we hope!!!

antoobrien · 18-09-2014 4:52pm

Rightwing wrote: »

That's very low level analysis.

Galway is doing particularly well because of the BMW initiative.

Galway is doing particularly well because it's one of the biggest medtech hubs in the world, as well as having operations from some of the largest tech companies in the world (IBM, HP, Oracle & SAP).

Rightwing · 18-09-2014 5:28pm

antoobrien wrote: »

Galway is doing particularly well because it's one of the biggest medtech hubs in the world, as well as having operations from some of the largest tech companies in the world (IBM, HP, Oracle & SAP).

Exactly. What a transformation for Galway. It just shows what can be done.

As the saying goes, where's a will, there's a way.

murphaph · 19-09-2014 6:11am

Rightwing wrote: »

Exactly. What a transformation for Galway. It just shows what can be done.

As the saying goes, where's a will, there's a way.

Those companies chose Galway because you can attract good staff to Galway because it's a nice place.

antoobrien · 19-09-2014 9:50am

Rightwing wrote: »

Exactly. What a transformation for Galway. It just shows what can be done.

That started well before an EU initiatives though, BMW is a relatively new thing.

In fact it started with the closure of Digital's hardware section in 1993, which as it turns out was probably the best thing to happen to Galway.

Rightwing · 19-09-2014 10:05am

murphaph wrote: »

Those companies chose Galway because you can attract good staff to Galway because it's a nice place.

We'll simplify things here and let's just say the BMW initiative did Galway no harm.

antoobrien wrote: »

That started well before an EU initiatives though, BMW is a relatively new thing.

In fact it started with the closure of Digital's hardware section in 1993, which as it turns out was probably the best thing to happen to Galway.

It was established in 1999 - the transformation since then has been sensational. I can't see why other initiatives shouldn't be rolled out to area like Waterford, Tralee etc. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a pick up in their fortunes.

antoobrien · 19-09-2014 10:31am

Rightwing wrote: »

We'll simplify things here and let's just say the BMW initiative did Galway no harm.

It was established in 1999 - the transformation since then has been sensational. I can't see why other initiatives shouldn't be rolled out to area like Waterford, Tralee etc. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was a pick up in their fortunes.

BMW was the cherry on top for Galway, but we were cooking long before they got involved.

You are either totally unaware aware of the scale of employment that was already in Galway before the BMW scheme, or you're intentionally choosing to ignore it. Companies such as Boston Scientific, Nortel (now Avaya), Covidien (formerly Tyco), Beckman Coulter, Medtronic, APC, Thermo King, Crown Control (since closed) were all in Galway since the mid 90s, most of them far earlier.

The technology/buisiness park that among others Oracle, IBM and various indigenous businesses like Storm Technologies & Fintrax have offices was built in the 80s.

In Galway closure of a factory, while it's initially bad news for the employees, is more often than not an opportunity for the community as a whole. The closure of the Digital hardware section is a prime example of this as the talent pool was now available for the likes of Boston Scientific & APC (which actually took over the Digital Hardware site). Well over 3,000 jobs replaced the 700 that were lost, not to mention the many startups that resulted.

That has had much more to do with the success of Galway than the BMW initiative.

The best think that the likes of Waterford & Tralee can do is what Loughrea & Claremorris are doing - invest in serious broadband capabilities to make their locations more attractive to multinationals and local companies alike.

Rightwing · 19-09-2014 10:42am

antoobrien wrote: »

BMW was the cherry on top for Galway, but we were cooking long before they got involved.

You are either totally unaware aware of the scale of employment that was already in Galway before the BMW scheme, or you're intentionally choosing to ignore it. Companies such as Boston Scientific, Nortel (now Avaya), Covidien (formerly Tyco), Beckman Coulter, Medtronic, APC, Thermo King, Crown Control (since closed) were all in Galway since the mid 90s, most of them far earlier.

The technology/buisiness park that among others Oracle, IBM and various indigenous businesses like Storm Technologies & Fintrax have offices was built in the 80s.

In Galway closure of a factory, while it's initially bad news for the employees, is more often than not an opportunity for the community as a whole. The closure of the Digital hardware section is a prime example of this as the talent pool was now available for the likes of Boston Scientific & APC (which actually took over the Digital Hardware site). Well over 3,000 jobs replaced the 700 that were lost, not to mention the many startups that resulted.

That has had much more to do with the success of Galway than the BMW initiative.

The best think that the likes of Waterford & Tralee can do is what Loughrea & Claremorris are doing - invest in serious broadband capabilities to make their locations more attractive to multinationals and local companies alike.

I'm very aware of it. Galway city's population has all but doubled over the last 15-20 years. I don't credit this to tourism.

If Galway can do it, Waterford can do it. But the politicians & IDA need to step up to mark. And 'we can't force the companies to move here' simply doesn't wash. Give them extra incentives FFS, a 6 year old in primary school would school most of them.

antoobrien · 19-09-2014 10:48am

Rightwing wrote: »

I'm very aware of it. Galway city's population has all but doubled over the last 15-20 years. I don't credit this to tourism.

It has doubled over the past 30. I don't credit it to tourism either, but the seeds were long since growing before the BMW initiative got all the credit.

Rightwing wrote: »

If Galway can do it, Waterford can do it. But the politicians & IDA need to step up to mark. And 'we can't force the companies to move here' simply doesn't wash. Give them extra incentives FFS, a 6 year old in primary school would school most of them.

Like Galway did, Waterford have to prove they have the talent base. Without that, all the initiatives in the world will do no more good than it's doing Rosocmmon or Leitrim.

barneystinson · 19-09-2014 10:55am

antoobrien wrote: »

Like Galway did, Waterford have to prove they have the talent base. Without that, all the initiatives in the world will do no more good than it's doing Rosocmmon or Leitrim.

What talent base are you on about?

Edit: I mean, how do you know the "talent" preceded the growth, rather than was attracted to it...

Rightwing · 19-09-2014 10:58am

antoobrien wrote: »

It has doubled over the past 30. I don't credit it to tourism either, but the seeds were long since growing before the BMW initiative got all the credit.

Like Galway did, Waterford have to prove they have the talent base. Without that, all the initiatives in the world will do no more good than it's doing Rosocmmon or Leitrim.

Agreed, but if skilled people are prepared to emigrate for a job, I suspect they'd go to Waterford. For the benefit of the overall country I think these extra incentives should be rolled out at the expense of Dublin. People in Dublin foolishly like to see most of the jobs go there, all that does is put pressure on housing and infrastructure.

Silentcorner · 19-09-2014 11:09am

What I do not understand about Galway is why it's success is not translating into higher disposable income for it's citizens, according to the latest report Galway is behind Waterford? I am obviously missing something because I would have perceived the case to be the opposite.

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/disposable-income-finally-rises-but-only-in-dublin-30213663.html

antoobrien · 19-09-2014 12:02pm

barneystinson wrote: »

What talent base are you on about?

Edit: I mean, how do you know the "talent" preceded the growth, rather than was attracted to it...

Because I grew up watching it.

Digital had a reputation for hovering up all the best graduates and engineers in the area, whether they had projects for them nor not. This was at a time when the west was basically exporting its youth to England, USA, Canada & Australia.

Kicking that pool of talent loose in the early 90s created a dozen or more startups. The jobs growth started inn earnest in the mid 90s, when instead of factories replacing other factories (e.g. APC replacing Digital, Nellcor replacing Crown Control), new factories started coming in e.g. Boston Scientific, Merit Medical, new buildings for Medtronic etc.

Rightwing wrote: »

Agreed, but if skilled people are prepared to emigrate for a job, I suspect they'd go to Waterford.

No they won't, they'll leave the country. Why would you move somewhere that describes itself as having an air of despair and despondency?

Rightwing wrote: »

For the benefit of the overall country I think these extra incentives should be rolled out at the expense of Dublin. People in Dublin foolishly like to see most of the jobs go there, all that does is put pressure on housing and infrastructure.

First thing you've said that make sense.

Rightwing · 19-09-2014 12:13pm

antoobrien wrote: »

Because I grew up watching it.

Digital had a reputation for hovering up all the best graduates and engineers in the area, whether they had projects for them nor not. This was at a time when the west was basically exporting its youth to England, USA, Canada & Australia.

Kicking that pool of talent loose in the early 90s created a dozen or more startups. The jobs growth started inn earnest in the mid 90s, when instead of factories replacing other factories (e.g. APC replacing Digital, Nellcor replacing Crown Control), new factories started coming in e.g. Boston Scientific, Merit Medical, new buildings for Medtronic etc.

No they won't, they'll leave the country. Why would you move somewhere that describes itself as having an air of despair and despondency?

First thing you've said that make sense.

Cash. Cash is King. If there's 1 thing to learn today, that's it.

antoobrien · 19-09-2014 12:17pm

Silentcorner wrote: »

What I do not understand about Galway is why it's success is not translating into higher disposable income for it's citizens, according to the latest report Galway is behind Waterford? I am obviously missing something because I would have perceived the case to be the opposite.

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/disposable-income-finally-rises-but-only-in-dublin-30213663.html

If you look at the figures behind that report you'll find that employee pay & self employed earnings in Galway are over twice what they are in Waterford, so the effect of averaging over a larger population probably has something do do with it.

Areas in Ireland doing well

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