Limerick improvement projects

moleyv

kilburn wrote:

Hopefully we can get a few more Northern trust type jobs from brexit everything helps.

Are the Northern trust jobs not just a glorified call centre? I don't think there will be an import charge on phonecalls from outside the EU, so no benefit to move such jobs.

sleepyman

Glenomra wrote: »

Before we become too critical of our tourist figures, look at the figures below for 2016, ahead of Clare, mayo etc, all significant tourist counties. big surprise for me is the figure for Kilkenny. Because of the dispersed nature of Limerick city groups of visitors are often less apparent than elsewhere. Overseas tourist revenue earned by county:
Overseas tourist revenue earned by county 2016:
Dublin: €1,726m
Cork: €558m
Galway: €475m
Kerry: €234m
Limerick: €212m
Clare: €127m
Kildare: €89m
Donegal: €83m
Wicklow: €82m
Mayo: €80m
Waterford: €75m
Tipperary: €66m
Wexford: €65m
Sligo: €51m
Cavan: €50m
Kilkenny: €45m
Meath: €44m
Louth & Westmeath: €36m each
Carlow: €32m
Monaghan: €25m
Roscommon: €20m
Laois: €18m
Leitrim: €15m
Offaly: €14m
Longford: €8m

Is that for the whole county?Bottom line is the city centre is noticeably quieter than Galway or Kilkenny.Would you struggle to get a booking in ten restaraunts in Limerick on a Saturday?Would every pub/cafe you go into be packed to the rafters?That's what we should be aiming for.I love coming home/love the city but it's just not as busy as the others.

kilburn

No they are fund accounting jobs

sleepyman

moleyv wrote: »

Are the Northern trust jobs not just a glorified call centre? I don't think there will be an import charge on phonecalls from outside the EU, so no benefit to move such jobs.

Northern Trust jobs are back office/some middle office jobs I believe-higher up the value chain than call centre.It's basically what 80% of the IFSC is.Awful pity they're not in the city centre.Is it true there's some agreement that no other fund company/competitor can come in to potentially drive up salaries?

moleyv

kilburn wrote:

No they are fund accounting jobs

sleepyman wrote:

Northern Trust jobs are back office/some middle office jobs I believe-higher up the value chain than call centre.It's basically what 80% of the IFSC is.Awful pity they're not in the city centre.Is it true there's some agreement that no other fund company/competitor can come in to potentially drive up salaries?

Good to hear.

Agreement with who? IDA?

Cookiemunster

sleepyman wrote: »

Is that for the whole county?Bottom line is the city centre is noticeably quieter than Galway or Kilkenny.Would you struggle to get a booking in ten restaraunts in Limerick on a Saturday?Would every pub/cafe you go into be packed to the rafters?That's what we should be aiming for.I love coming home/love the city but it's just not as busy as the others.

Limerick city center is much larger than Kilkenny or Galway. Galway is basically just Shop St. Limerick has pubs and restuarants spread across more than one street.

sleepyman

moleyv wrote: »

Good to hear.

Agreement with who? IDA?

Someone told me this but it could be complete rubbish.Would be good if we could get a few more Northern Trust type companies in the city centre

sleepyman

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Limerick city center is much larger than Kilkenny or Galway. Galway is basically just Shop St. Limerick has pubs and restuarants spread across more than one street.

That is the case but my point still stands.Hasn't the guy who did the Limerick bus tour given up the Ghost because there's no one on it?To me that's an indicator that there's not many tourists around

thomas 123

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Limerick city center is much larger than Kilkenny or Galway. Galway is basically just Shop St. Limerick has pubs and restuarants spread across more than one street.

Ya, having recently moved from Limerick to Galway i can 100% agree with this. Limerick is much larger in the city center.

on a side note i have no idea what Galway has that limerick doesn't have. If anyone knows a Freda's/Luigis style chipper up here hit me up.

They also seem to have a severe lack of real butchers...

mdmix

Glenomra wrote: »

Before we become too critical of our tourist figures, look at the figures below for 2016, ahead of Clare, mayo etc, all significant tourist counties. big surprise for me is the figure for Kilkenny. Because of the dispersed nature of Limerick city groups of visitors are often less apparent than elsewhere. Overseas tourist revenue earned by county:
Overseas tourist revenue earned by county 2016:
Dublin: €1,726m
Cork: €558m
Galway: €475m
Kerry: €234m
Limerick: €212m
Clare: €127m
Kildare: €89m
Donegal: €83m
Wicklow: €82m
Mayo: €80m
Waterford: €75m
Tipperary: €66m
Wexford: €65m
Sligo: €51m
Cavan: €50m
Kilkenny: €45m
Meath: €44m
Louth & Westmeath: €36m each
Carlow: €32m
Monaghan: €25m
Roscommon: €20m
Laois: €18m
Leitrim: €15m
Offaly: €14m
Longford: €8m

i think we are doing quite well here considering the cork and galway are the 2 largest county. i do wonder about the tourists tho. i only ever see tourists in the lock bar and very few other places. i think we could definitely do better. we have a fantastic history and the city does look beautiful from the boardwalks around the quays. we have thomond park which cork does not have, and galways stadium is nothing in comparison. we are guaranteed visitors from a sporting perspective, although do rugby fans really care where they go, so long as their team is playing? the new rugby experience is a good way to further tap into this market and hopefully improve their experience of the city.

one area i think we are missing out on is backpackers (ireland doesn't get true backpackers, but its the easiest way to describe them). they certainly don't spend much, but they do add to the vibe of a city. i find they spend less on dining or anything considered remotely luxurious but are willing to part cash for cultural experiences like museums which limerick has plenty of. they also make great use of free experiences like city walking tours which adds to the vibrancy of a city. the council should try to work with entrepreneurs towards opening a hostle to encourage this type of visitor. iv spoken to many backpackers, and they are all familiar with limericks location as they have gotten a bus through here, sadly very few chose to stop off.

i hate to harp on like a broken record, but i think the main problem is that not enough people, particularly young people (graduates or 23-30 yr olds) live in the city. if they did the city would have a lot more life. again 60% of graduates chose to leave limerick after they finish their study. if we focused on making limerick liveable, and encouraged more to stay then the city centre would improve. if the people of limerick start using the city centre then tourists will too. the streets of limerick are empty far too often, as a tourist it probably feels unsettling walking around an empty street with with closed off buildings like patrick street or nicholas street. LCC recognised this problem, and their solution was to build a bridge from the old tourist office in arthurs quay park to king johns castle so tourists wouldn't have to walk by empty buildings..

i have read on other forums that LCC owns much of Nicholas street. LCC's main priority should be to fix this street asap by working with entrepreneurs, artists or anyone who has any idea for this.

mdmix

kilburn wrote: »

I think we do have some cluster industries here we have a large amount of semi conductor businesses in Limerick and a growing aircraft leasing sector.

Hopefully we can get a few more Northern trust type jobs from brexit everything helps.

I would rather a diverse job range to avoid another Dell scenario

i did a quick search and could only find Analogue and OnSemiconductor. looks like there is another company in ennis which is commutable from limerick. are there more here? are they research or manufacturing only?

diversity is good but having a cluster means you have a talent pool and potential supply chain which ties companies to a location. it would be difficult for a pharma company to leave cork as a new research team can't just take over 10 years of research projects. it would also create issues around sourcing chemicals/ingredients.

my worry with back office support is that these people can be easily let go and replacements hired almost anywhere.

the latest midwest development plan is looking to create an aerospace cluster with support from the ida. this is a great idea but will take a long time to develop and there are no guarantees of success. its early days

Glenomra

moleyv wrote: »

Where are these figures from?

listed in the Irish Independent of October 11 , 2016 article by pol O'Conghaile.
also listed -which might be of interest are
Overseas visitors by county (2015). Again, Limerick despite the negative perception scored well. Sorry for appearing 'down' on poor Kilkenny, but we hear so much about it and Mayo, Donegal etc, but we are ahead of these, and could push on to catch up with the others
Dublin: 4,938,000
Cork: 1,449,000
Galway: 1,354,000
Kerry: 1,026,000
Clare: 597,000
Limerick: 537,000
Mayo: 302,000
Donegal: 289,000
Kilkenny: 267,000
Waterford: 263,000
Wicklow: 248,000
Wexford: 221,000
Kildare: 214,000
Sligo: 186,000
Tipperary: 180,000
Cavan: 144,000
Meath: 134,000
Louth: 125,000
Westmeath: 116,000
Monaghan: 65,000
Carlow: 62,000
Laois & Leitrim: 57,000 each
Offaly & Roscommon: 50,000 each
Longford: 30,000

Glenomra

another fact very seldom mentioned. When has a national commentator - they rather focus on the number of Limerick City estates they regard as 'Black Spots' - mentioned the fact that Limerick county and City has one of the highest Disposable Household Incomes in the country. According to my study of the figures, Limerick is second behind Dublin, ahead of Kildare, Galway, Cork etc. Source is from the Central statistics office - county incomes and regional GDOP, published on 22 March 2017 for the year 2014, the last year surveyed. Another fact that shows the potential of limerick city and county.

dave 27

In terms of the feeling busier status against the likes of Galway just remember that the centre of Limerick is much bigger then those smaller towns and cities, with wider streets etc, i always think the centre of Limerick nearly represents that of a city with a population of about 3-4 hundred k

kilburn

mdmix wrote:

the latest midwest development plan is looking to create an aerospace cluster with support from the ida. this is a great idea but will take a long time to develop and there are no guarantees of success. its early days

We already have a very large Aircraft leasing presence in the area.

As for semiconductors Analog have a big R&D centre in Limerick

Harambe

kilburn wrote: »

As for semiconductors Analog have a big R&D centre in Limerick

And a manufacturing plant also.

zulutango

(copied from another thread)

There's a very interesting story in the Limerick Leader today. Conn Murray and Paschal O'Donoghue have clashed apparently, with the city manager saying the plan isn't nearly ambitious enough for Limerick. The story isn't online yet.

I have to say it is heartening to hear this kind of sentiment from the very top of the local authority.

RINO87

Im wondering is it possible that tourist figures/spend for limerick slightly skewed by those attending european rugby games?

keane2097

RINO87 wrote: »

Im wondering is it possible that tourist figures/spend for limerick slightly skewed by those attending european rugby games?

Why would that be a skew? People visit places to use their amenities.

James McNulty

RINO87 wrote: »

Im wondering is it possible that tourist figures/spend for limerick slightly skewed by those attending european rugby games?

If that's the case, you should exclude every event from Croke Park, Aviva and the RDS and see where the Dublin figures lie.

kilburn

Harambe wrote:

And a manufacturing plant also.

And that wont be leaving anytime soon so not sure what your point is ?

I was asked did they have r&d?

Glenomra

another interesting - at least in my opinion- figure from 2014, King John's Castle had 84,819 paying visitors; presumably has increased since. we need more attractions; for instance Muckross House at 125,000 plus. free Venues had Galway city museum at 157,000 while Limerick Art Gallery had 67,000. Need to get Limerick City Museum attracting more people. Holy Cross Abbey has 150,000, don't have a figure for St. Mary's Cathedral which is a gem, Limerick's greatest and most authentic treasure imo. also, how many of us have recently visited Lough Gur, another of Limerick's forgotten but excellent attractions. the Hunt Museum also. what an exhibition this summer; attracted visitors from all over the country and beyond.

mart 23

According to a report on RTE news it is no longer viable for developers to build Apartments in Dublin. I assume this would apply to Limerick also . They get more value in building 3 bedroom homes etc.

RINO87

James McNulty wrote: »

If that's the case, you should exclude every event from Croke Park, Aviva and the RDS and see where the Dublin figures lie.

Ya good point, was just a thought that popped into my head.

Johnny_BravoIII

mentioned the fact that Limerick county and City has one of the highest Disposable Household Incomes in the country. According to my study of the figures, Limerick is second behind Dublin, ahead of Kildare, Galway, Cork etc. Source is from the Central statistics office - county incomes and regional GDOP, published on 22 March 2017 for the year 2014, the last year surveyed. Another fact that shows the potential of limerick city and county.

Having lived in both places, I tend to consider there to be two limericks.
The suburbs and the counties thrive, whilst the city has issues.

Drive through raheen, annacotty, castleconnell, castletroy, north-south circular any evening and you get a sense of thriving wealthy communities.

However, visitors spend time in the city centre, hence the perception issue.

zulutango

The city centre leaves a lot to be desired. You can't blame visitors or indeed locals for not being too impressed with the place. That's not to say that there aren't some really great things about it, but the first impressions for many are not fantastic and we have to face up to that.

The pity is that it could be a really fantastic city centre, one of the most attractive in Ireland or indeed the UK both to visit and also to live in, in my opinion. It would take less than 10 years to get to that point, but it would require tough decisions and there is little evidence that we are prepared to take them.

kilburn

mart 23 wrote:

According to a report on RTE news it is no longer viable for developers to build Apartments in Dublin. I assume this would apply to Limerick also . They get more value in building 3 bedroom homes etc.

Its an apples and oranges comparison land prices here would be much cheaper

mart 23

kilburn wrote: »

Its an apples and oranges comparison land prices here would be much cheaper

The prices for Apartments are also much higher in Dublin than here and they still cant make a profit ,

Cookiemunster

mart 23 wrote: »

The prices for Apartments are also much higher in Dublin than here and they still cant make a profit ,

The prices are higher, because the building costs are higher in Dublin. It would be far cheaper to build in Limerick.

zulutango

It would be good to see a similar analysis for Limerick City though. At the end of the day we need people living in the city centre. For that to happen we need jobs in the city centre, but crucially we need good quality residential accommodation in the centre also. For whatever reason we don't have very much of it, and we have to figure out why and try and change that.