Enterprise Ireland is to allocate €5m in funding for local and regional initiatives to support new businesses and jobs under the Local Enterprise Office Competitive Fund and the Community Enterprise Initiative.
€2m of the funding will support ‘bottom-up’ projects where the LEO will group together to create collaborative projects in their region, while community organisations will partner with other regional organisations to deliver new job creation projects – with €3m set aside for this purpose.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor, said she is “determined to support these regions to help them to achieve their potential and their ambition.
“In that regard, I am particularly pleased that Enterprise Ireland will issue a 2nd call later this year and work with interested groups to deliver quality projects in their regions,” she added.
Enterprise Ireland CEO Julie Sinnamon said the first competitive call for funding was very well subscribed and “we look forward to working with those allocated funding today and with all the other organisations that have come forward with projects to boost job creation potential across the country”.
Among the latest projects to be funded are a midlands engineering Cluster Programme, which will create new synergy between engineering enterprises, educational institutions, and government agencies in the region.
In addition, a south east artisan food initiative to establish a cluster of fledgling food exporters across five counties will receive an allocation, as well as a project to develop a digital media and gaming corridor linking the Mid-West and South East regions.
