Our economy being too centered around Dublin.

Snow Garden

Dublin is creaking already and is overly expensive for what you get.

I am hearing more and more about employers and employees looking to establish a 2nd office/factory in the other smaller cities (Waterford, Limerick, Galway, Sligo). Broadband is the key piece of the puzzle. A lot more people will be working-from-home in the future.

Tell me how

Jess Kelly's show Techtalk on Newstalk yesterday was located in Athlone where she was talking to local business owners and staff from the IT on the benefits locating in the town has to offer.

One guy with a software focused business said that they are paying comparable rates to Dublin for similar roles and pointed out that the money goes a lot farther. Another guy also spoke about how Dublin airport is as fast to get to as it is from the southern end of the M50 most of the time.

Worth a listen to hear real world advocates for outside of Dublin.

salmocab

Tell me how wrote: »

Jess Kelly's show Techtalk on Newstalk yesterday was located in Athlone where she was talking to local business owners and staff from the IT on the benefits locating in the town has to offer.

One guy with a software focused business said that they are paying comparable rates to Dublin for similar roles and pointed out that the money goes a lot farther. Another guy also spoke about how Dublin airport is as fast to get to as it is from the southern end of the M50 most of the time.

Worth a listen to hear real world advocates for outside of Dublin.

That airport thing is nonsense it would almost never be as fast as from the other end of the m50 never mind most of the time. It might if there was a crash before the n4 or something.

AlmightyCushion

Tell me how wrote: »

Jess Kelly's show Techtalk on Newstalk yesterday was located in Athlone where she was talking to local business owners and staff from the IT on the benefits locating in the town has to offer.

One guy with a software focused business said that they are paying comparable rates to Dublin for similar roles and pointed out that the money goes a lot farther. Another guy also spoke about how Dublin airport is as fast to get to as it is from the southern end of the M50 most of the time.

Worth a listen to hear real world advocates for outside of Dublin.

Most of the major towns and cities have good broadband already. I know Sligo town is well covered anyway. The problem with even the bigger towns (like Sligo) is that they generally only have a handful of employers in the one industry. If the company you work for is shít, closes down, moves or whatever then you'll probably struggle to get a job. These towns need to attract lots of smaller companies/departments and let them expand naturally over time.

veryangryman

salmocab wrote: »

That airport thing is nonsense it would almost never be as fast as from the other end of the m50 never mind most of the time. It might if there was a crash before the n4 or something.

Still you only got to do the journey the rare time. How many are flying home every weekend.

Also...yknow... rent, traffic.

kyote00

All these ideas have either been tried and failed or are already in place....

- Shannon stopover operated for many years on US flights and propped up shannon airport.

- tax breaks are already in place via the Local Entreprise boards - covered startup and established businesses.

- Teagasc, Coilte are regionalised. University research centres at UCC, WIT and Galway. Tyndal in Cork .....

- Dublin cycle scheme is in place for ~10 years now and is very successful

- Cultural grants already in place for Gaeltacht regions, VAT rate reductions for hotels

Tell me how wrote: »

How about subsidising flights in to Shannon and Cork to create greater access or rebranding them/marketing them differently rather than spending 900M on a second runway in Dublin (a moot point now as they are separate entities).

How about tax breaks for companies to locate in a particular region.

How about locating national facilities, whether medical, or administration, or research in places other than Dublin.

How about investing in non-active public transport infrastructure (cycling lanes/bus lanes) to increase attractiveness of such modes of transport in large cities.

How about creating cultural grants for venues to entice more people to either visit the region or to stay there instead of having to travel there.

I'm not suggesting any of this is easy, sure fire or cheap but that it should be considered for areas other than just Dublin as currently seems to be dis proportionally the case.

Shefwedfan

An easy way to move some employers out of Dublin and help Dublin as a city would be to stop traffic into the city centre. It was discussed before on environmental thread but more or less draw a circle from Castleknock gates and anything inside the circle is blocked to private cars.

So bus/train/tram/bike etc would only have access. People in cars would not. Permit etc can be granted if people require specific access(shops etc )

Some companies have to work in Dublin because of IFSC etc but a good few don't. It might push some of those companies outside Dublin. Also from a tourism point of view it would assist with a more public friendly city centre.

salmocab

Shefwedfan wrote: »

An easy way to move some employers out of Dublin and help Dublin as a city would be to stop traffic into the city centre. It was discussed before on environmental thread but more or less draw a circle from Castleknock gates and anything inside the circle is blocked to private cars.

So bus/train/tram/bike etc would only have access. People in cars would not. Permit etc can be granted if people require specific access(shops etc )

Some companies have to work in Dublin because of IFSC etc but a good few don't. It might push some of those companies outside Dublin. Also from a tourism point of view it would assist with a more public friendly city centre.

You know 10s of thousands live inside that circle lots with cars?

Sunny Disposition

Of course its different for manufacturing, but I would think most office jobs can be done largely from home nowadays. Not nearly as much reason for people to need to live in Dublin as there was in 2009, but we seem to be a little slow at adopting remote working. Its something the Government could try and encourage, lot of environmental, social and spatial benefits.

topper75

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Not sure about that, rural people like anyone spending money but have little time for permanent blow ins.

Sure they might not know who your grandfather hurled for

Nasty those culshies. Whereas when you move to Dublin, you find yourself instantly surrounded by new best friends. It makes you feel like a minor celebrity walking into the pub of the Fair City set.

Rhys Essien

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Netherlands is a great example of a well balanced country. Just take a look at the population of their top 7 cities.

Functional urban areas[189] Population
(2011)
Amsterdam 2,500,000
Rotterdam 1,419,000
The Hague 850,000
Utrecht 770,000
Eindhoven 695,000
Groningen 482,000
Enschede 402,000

The population density there is multiples of Ireland. It's one big city in reality. It's like that hairy guy who you can't work out where his beard ends and his chest hair begins.

Shefwedfan

salmocab wrote: »

You know 10s of thousands live inside that circle lots with cars?

Yes I am aware but more and more people are moving towards the like of GoCars etc as the over head of buying/maintenance/parking of a car is high. Especially in a city centre location.



Public transport would have to step up making sure travel within the city is better and then services like GoCar etc(2-3 open or in process of opening) would provide for cars if people need to travel outside city limits


People in Ireland are horrified at having no car, majority of major cities in Europe and the World people never even get a drivers license.


It's an idea. Most of those mentioned have tried and failed. It would potentially help with tourism. Dublin city centre at the best of times if not pedestrian friendly

salmocab

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Yes I am aware but more and more people are moving towards the like of GoCars etc as the over head of buying/maintenance/parking of a car is high. Especially in a city centre location.



Public transport would have to step up making sure travel within the city is better and then services like GoCar etc(2-3 open or in process of opening) would provide for cars if people need to travel outside city limits


People in Ireland are horrified at having no car, majority of major cities in Europe and the World people never even get a drivers license.


It's an idea. Most of those mentioned have tried and failed. It would potentially help with tourism. Dublin city centre at the best of times if not pedestrian friendly

We need huge investment in public transport before people could give up cars. We would need multiple metro lines and bus connects finished before there is a chance of people moving away from private car ownership in the city.

blanch152

Snow Garden wrote: »

Dublin is creaking already and is overly expensive for what you get.

I am hearing more and more about employers and employees looking to establish a 2nd office/factory in the other smaller cities (Waterford, Limerick, Galway, Sligo). Broadband is the key piece of the puzzle. A lot more people will be working-from-home in the future.

Broadband to Waterford, Limerick, Cork, Galway, Sligo and the next fifty to seventy biggest towns is a no-brainer. The problem is broadband beyond that, it is much too expensive for the return.

There is also the much bigger environmental challenge. We need less people living in splendid rural isolation, and more living in compact, environmentally-friendly cities. Public transport is only climate-effective in cities, ditto health services and educational services, which are much more climate-expensive when dispersed to multiple rural locations.

For Forks Sake

Tell me how wrote: »

They'd get as far as Limerick (from Portlaoise) and Galway (from Mullingar), or how much further should they have to go?

They'd be doing well, seeing as Mullingar is on the Sligo line, and the old link to Athlone is now a greenway

Fiftyfilthy

Fann Linn wrote: »

Leo is from Dublin

Thought he was from India?

nuac

Tell me how wrote: »

We have enough evidence to show that companies will locate outside Dublin.
Cork has long been a strong location for pharma companies.
At least 3 of the top producers of replacement hip and knee joints have plants in the south west.
Galway has many med-tech multinationals, Sligo has a few.
Apple in Cork and formerly Dell in Limerick.

I have long felt that we are creating a bigger and bigger problem by allowing to grow dis-proportionally. We are heading for 35% of the population living within 1.3% of the land-space and many of these are living a poorer quality of life due to commuting times and housing prices.

Yes, companies will have a preference where they want to locate but they have only followed the narrative which we have created around Dublin being the only place to be in this country. We have been so busy trying to equate Dublin to London/Paris/New York that we are now caught in this circumstance.

Building a 2nd runway at Dublin while Cork and Shannon are vastly underutilised and people having to drive from beside these airports to get many flights is one thing the government could have but a stop to for the betterment of the wider country.
Every 'National' facility having to be located within eyesight of the spire is another.
The speed at which any discussion which thinks national policy should be in the interest of the wider country is called Dublin-bashing is a sign of how big a mess we are in as now, the number living in and very close by to Dublin is more than it can handle.

Agree. 100%
Allergan came to Westport in 1975. Started with 25 ( twenty five ) people making eye drops.
Has expanded steadily over the years. Now, inter alia, makes all the botox for markets outside USA/Canada. Approx 1700 working there now. Further expansion announced this week.. Same could have been done around the country.
Not everything has to be in Dublin

salmocab

I don’t think people see it as Dublin bashing or anything like it, I’m more than happy to see big companies set up outside Dublin as it takes pressure off Dublin but companies want certain things from where they set up and obviously Dublin ticks more of those boxes for most of those companies. I’ve said before Dublin needs sorting out to make commuting from the surrounding counties a lot easier and quicker. We also need to encourage companies to set up outside Dublin but I think it’s fanciful to think that many companies will setup in remote counties with poor access to airports and even populations to draw from. Pushing certain locations that can be scaled easier like Cork, Limerick or Waterford is the way to go but certain companies won’t have interest in them and it’s better to get the 600 indeed jobs in Dublin than somewhere on the continent.

lisasimpson

Some companies have to work in Dublin because of IFSC etc but a good few don't. It might push some of those companies outside .[/quote]

A lot more of the IFSC type companies could be based outside of Dublin. Cork already has the likes of Clearstream (a leading global clearing house), Bank of New York, Citco, Hedge Serv. State street in Kilkenny and NT has grown its presence in Limerick quite significantly with reports of a Lux based company setting up there. All the regional cities have to do is attract 1 big company and others will follow in time. The cyber securities industry in Cork is an example of this
Limerick has a lot of potential to grow. One thing (but it will never happen) is the upgrade of the Limerick ballybropy rail line. A proper rail service with a decent commuter service for workers would go a long way.
As a country person myself,instead of spending an absolute fortune on rural broadband. Develop it in our towns and village centres and then instead of going down every laneway in rural town start developing soft office desk hubs in towns. There are all small few in Ireland already and proving popular. As another poster stated not every job now requires a person to be physically in an office 5 days a week. Commuters could work a day or 2 from such hubs and instead of 2 to3 hrs every day commuting. This time could be then spend with family or allow people to get involve in their local communites. Small local shops and businesses would benefit from the spin offs from these.Many town and their nearly villages already have schools crying out for enrollments etc which would help the capacity issues in the large urban

Shefwedfan

lisasimpson wrote: »

A lot more of the IFSC type companies could be based outside of Dublin. Cork already has the likes of Clearstream (a leading global clearing house), Bank of New York, Citco, Hedge Serv. State street

Some companies, not sure why, have a maximum distance from ifsc, they can’t go past it....some don’t....