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New Regional Enterprise Plan for Dublin

A new regional enterprise plan was announced for Dublin on February 13that an event which also saw the announcement of a €10 million redevelopment and expansion of the Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC).

The Regional Enterprise Plan for Dublin is one of nine new Regional Enterprise Plans, which the department says are designed to support enterprise growth and job creation in all regions. The €3.2m redevelopment and expansion at the GEC incubation centre has been part-funded by her Department’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund.

Speaking at the Guinness Enterprise Centre, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys TD said:

The collaboration in evidence here at the Guinness Enterprise Centre is a great example of what these new Regional Enterprise Plans are fundamentally about. The Plan for Dublin sets out a number of key strategic areas where regional stakeholders, working together, will provide a basis for future enterprise development and job creation that is sustainable in the longer term.”

The Dublin Plan is focused around six Strategic Objectives, which will build on the region’s strengths and address potential vulnerabilities. They have been developed collaboratively by stakeholders including the Dublin Local Authorities, the Enterprise Agencies, the Local Enterprise Offices, enterprise champions, the Regional Skills Forum and others.

They include: ensuring the availability of skills and talent; increasing enterprise engagement in innovation, research and development; building a pipeline of scalable start-ups; enhancing the attractiveness of Dublin as a place to live, work, visit and invest in; facilitating economic pathways for individuals; and supporting Dublin enterprises to adopt more sustainable practices. The Plan also outlines the focus of the enterprise agencies in the Dublin region to 2020. In general, we talk about ‘the regions’ as being everywhere but Dublin, but the truth is that Dublin is a region in and of itself. We shouldn’t view Dublin as being in competition with our other regions; instead, they should be viewed as complementary to each other.

You can’t have a strong country without a strong capital, and a thriving Dublin is essential to sustaining continued growth for the whole country. As Ireland’s capital, the city will continue to play a key role in realising our ambition for all of Ireland,” the Minister added.

The new Regional Enterprise Plans are, according to the department, intended to provide an extensive refocus of the original Regional Action Plans for Jobs (RAPJs), which ran from 2015 to 2017/8. Dublin is a dynamic location for creativity, innovation and new business development which is globally recognised. The Dublin Regional Enterprise Plan is about maintaining that competitive edge in an international context and building on Dublin’s success,” she concluded.

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