The purchase of the Opera Centre site creates an exciting opportunity for the city and the region to create a visionary Master Plan. This will allow all possible stakeholders to contribute – from our new unitary local authority and the regeneration agencies to IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Limerick Institute of Technology, University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate, Fáilte Ireland, Shannon Development, the Mid-West Regional Authority as well as ourselves in Limerick Chamber and many other business interests. Anything that is done with this site must be integrated into an overall vision and master plan for the city and the Limerick region and provide an eclectic mix made up of retail, commercial, office, residential, arts, sports and culture. We believe that the traditional view of retail being the only answer is not correct. We believe that retail, although it has a significant part to play, is not the only solution. We strongly believe that any development at this site must also complement and work with what is already in existence, not threaten future viability and this also applies to the out-of-town shopping centres soon to be an integral part of the extended Limerick city once the integration of the local authorities is completed. It must be a game changing unique and visionary development. An iconic symbol for a unified City and County working together for the betterment of the Limerick Region and Ireland’s third city with a population in excess of 100,000.
The Opera Centre together with the other vacant commercial buildings in the city have the potential to being the catalyst in revitalising Limerick and the region if it is used to drive a dynamic Master Plan to make Limerick City and the Limerick region a location of choice for Foreign Direct Investment, for tourism, for education, for shopping, for culture, for sports. This will involve creativity and courageous choices by the many organisations who have the resources and/or the power to contribute to creating a viable, sustainable and commercially successful Master Plan for Limerick. We need them all to incorporate what is best for Limerick City in their strategic thinking and in their own plans.
The list of potential developments that could be housed at this site is endless. The following is a list of 9 possible iconic initiatives for Limerick City which would drive further growth, employment and economic activity as well as complementing each other and which the Opera Centre could be used as the catalyst for:
- Develop a financial services employment hub for the City Centre. The footfall that this would create would have a multiplier effect on all other service demands across the city. The Chamber believe there is huge merit and opportunity for Limerick City Centre to become a national centre of excellence for tier 2 or Back office/Shared services for the IFSC (International Financial services Centre). This is one of the fastest growing employment sectors at the moment – the government aim to create 10,000 new jobs in the next 5 years. Can you imagine what 20% of those jobs would do, i.e. 2,000 jobs, if they were based in the heart of Limerick City centre It could totally transform our city centre and would complement the graduates coming from our institutes of education from the Business Schools in both LIT and UL. Limerick could twin with Dublin in bidding for IFSC opportunities with Dublin securing the HQ, Sales and Marketing and Limerick being the designated location of choice for the back-office/shared services activities.
- Develop an international accredited medical village/campus around the successful Barringtons Hospital. I can recall 3 attempts at building a private hospital in this region and all failed. However Barringtons Hospital has successfully evolved from a clinic when it was opened in 1994 to employing 100 persons directly at present, including 40 consultants. I understand there are ambitious expansion plans and a vision for the future to create a “Medical Village”, building substantial links with the Medical School at UL . Could the Opera Centre be the catalyst to support the development of this vision?
- Obtain national designation for Limerick to be the Irish capital of Arts, Sports and Culture in the same way as Glasgow was designated and restored as the centre for Art in all the UK. With LIT’s internationally acclaimed School of Art and Design, UL’s World Academy of Music, Limerick’s rich Georgian heritage and our successes in Sport, we need to work together to seek to obtain government status for Limerick as the Irish Capital for Art, Sports and Culture. The designation would not only bring young people and life back to the centre, it would also generate increased tourist numbers.
- Develop a cluster of sporting enterprises on the back of Limerick’s European City of Sport designation and it’s proud success in all sporting codes. Limerick has internationally recognised sporting facilities across all codes. Just as Cardiff capitalised and built on their City of Sport title with their International Sports Village, the opportunity exists for Limerick to become an internationally recognised centre for sporting excellence. The potential for Limerick to be recognised as an International Sports Services Centre, hosting R&D and administration clusters for sports companies is real and this centre for excellence could be housed in the Opera Centre or the Opera Centre could be used as a catalyst to support this plan.
- Develop a recreational focal point. The site at the Opera Centre could house Cinemas/ Theatre/ Opera House/ Library/ Museum and become not just a day-time attraction but a reason for people to congregate and come to the city at night-time.
- Expand the retail offering that will complement existing retailers. A current difficulty in attracting large multi-nationals retailers can be that there is limited large footprints currently available in the city. This site/ development could be tailor designed to suit some of these large retailers and we should still look to attracting a “big ticket” international retail anchor to the city centre.
- Develop a unique retail shopping experience for Limerick if the city centre retailing was focused on a high number of quality niche retailers complemented with the creation of start-up businesses from a newly created enterprise and incubation centre from the Limerick School of Art and Design? These would be focused on new businesses in the fashion, design and creative arts areas thus contributing to a unique “Creative Culture” and shopping experience unique to Ireland.
- Perhaps the space could be used as an office design that could incorporate a new Unitary Limerick Authority Hall. In a true joined-up thinking fashion, if our enterprise agencies successfully identified suitable alternative foreign direct investment or indigenous companies to move into the existing city and county authority buildings, thus making the development of a new building to house the unified authority cost neutral.
- Invite LIT and UL to locate a significant portion of their combined student population of 20,000 in the city centre. Limerick is a university city, with a student population in excess of 20,000. LIT’s School of Art and Design with its 700+ students as well as Mary Immaculate College and it’s 3,000 students currently reside within the City Centre. However the city centre does not reflect the full scale of our student population and the opportunity exists to bring more educational facilities into the city centre.
Limerick Chamber believes that whatever is developed at the site, it must be a catalyst for economic and social re-growth and revitalisation not just in the city but for the entire region; leading the region as an iconic visionary development into the future. A mixed-use development which will provide an initial injection of life back into the city and/or act as a catalyst for supporting Limerick’s attractiveness as a location of choice for foreign direct investment as well as national designation in Arts, Sports and Culture, but one that will be of long-term benefit and that will stand the test of time. Whatever happens on this site, it must be part of a larger integrated master plan for the city and the region, reiterating and re-creating it as a focal point leading regional economic growth and employment for current and future generations.
Working with Limerick City Council, Failte Ireland, the LCBA, Shannon Development – and co-ordinated fantastically by Laura Ryan at the Communications Office a joined-up national marketing campaign to promote Limerick this Christmas has been launched. A fantastic brochure highlighting the amazing reasons to come to Limerick and listing the great things that are happening here are all in the glossy. It looks brilliant and is well worth checking out! Coupled with the various parking initiatives that are taking place (traders are offering coupons towards multi-storey car parks and city hall is offering free on-street parking – click here for more info) there is no reason not to get into the city this Christmas! To see what’s happening and for more information check out http://limerick.ie/christmas/
We are living in tough economic times. Retail sales have been hit severely over the last two+ years & the increase in VAT is not going to help the situation.
But people will still spend and celebrate Christmas. It’s a time for festivities and a time to cherish what we have…
And so this week and every week leading up to Christmas - the Chamber is urging people in Limerick to support Limerick. Shop in Limerick. Keep your sp€nd in Limerick. And celebrate Limerick & the wonderful eclectic mix of retail, cafe, cultural & many many more attractions that we have. I for one am a proud Limerick man and look forward to enjoying the festive cheer in our great city over the next few weeks.
It was with great surprise and delight that I learned on Friday that Limerick City Council and Limerick Regeneration Agencies had been granted central funding by Minster Hogan (although I imagine Minister Michael Noonan played a pivotal role as well as Minister Jan O’Sullivan too) to purchase the current vacant site, and eyesore that is the Opera Centre in the heart of our City Centre.
This new & innovative approach by central government, to fund-aid local government, to purchase opportunities to drive and deliver local economic growth is inspired and to be congratulated. This is an example of how local government, via the vehicle that will be our transformed new Unitary Limerick Authority, can actively participate and lead regeneration within our City’s core and by doing so facilitate enterprise and job growth. Such active participation by both national and local government may be a key model to drive and deliver future viability for towns and cities across the country.
The site presents an opportunity to explore a wide range of uses to enhance the city centre: ideally whatever form the building takes - be it a mixed-use of commercial, retail, residential, cultural, arts… the list is endless – one thing is for sure, the potential is great for the space to become a hub and focal point in the city to compliment the existing offering of cafes, bars, restaurants, museum’s, gallery’s, retail etc that the city currently offers. Yes – it’s an exciting time for Limerick and the Chamber look forward to working with the various bodies in creating an interim use as well as long-term master plan for the site integrated with a master plan for the city.
May the creative juices and minds that came up with this innovative new approach continue to flow and work with the various key stakeholders to deliver and drive transformation in Limerick…
I wish to acknowledge and congratulate all involved – particularly Denis Brosnan, Tom Mackey, Brendan Kenny and Mayor Jim Long as well of course to our national Ministers.
Our sold out annual President’s Dinner and the inaugural Limerick Region Business Awards took place last Friday night at the Strand Hotel. And oh what a night! A true celebration of all that is good and positive about Limerick!
Our guest speaker Finance Minister Michael Noonan was unable to attend. I read out his letter explaining his disppointment in not being able to join us as he had to be in Brussels. Everyone applauded him as we all know where Michael’s heart is and we all knew that affairs of state had to come first. However Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Richard Bruton attended in his place and delivered a very positive and uplifting message of the policy measures he and the government are taking to ensure that a pro-business environment is created and that enterprise growth and job creation are at the centre of all decision making.
With over 400 people in attendance this was by far the largest gathering and celebration of business in the Mid-West Region. This year we incorporated the inaugural Limerick Region Business Awards into the President’s Dinner – a decision which under-pinned our celebratory message!! Because the night really showcased the best that business has to offer in Limerick and highlighted to the packed room the fantastic, innovative and successful businesses that are operating in the region. From almost 100 nominee companies, 21 shortlisted companies were profiled on the night and the winners of the seven award categories were announced.
I said it on the night and I’ll probably be saying it for a long time to come, but the standard of applicants for the awards this year was overwhelming. The judging panel were blown away by the vision and leadership of entrepreneurs and managers in the region. The awards are a true testament to the business acumen that exists in Limerick and the Mid-west region and Limerick Chamber were delighted at the opportunity to honour those who have battled against difficult economic times to thrive, grow and succeed!
The winners from the night are listed on the Chamber website as is a link to my speech.
As Pat O’Connor of Cafe Noir, one of our nominee companies said afterwards ““Congratulations on a fantastically well run Presidents Dinner incorporating the Regional Business Awards. It was a thoroughly informative & entertaining evening with superb food and service. It takes a lot to please everyone but I didn’t hear a single negative comment. Well done to all concerned.”
A special thanks to our dinner sponsors, Specsavers & associate sponsors Tadhg Kearney Jewellers & O’Brien’s Wines for their continued support for the Chamber and business community in Limerick. A huge thanks to our main business award sponsors LIT, who the Chamber have partnered with very successfully this year, underpinning their enterprise ladder. Thanks also of course to our individual award sponsors and all who helped to make the night such a success.
And I was particularly delighted that the winner of the inaugural Limerick Chamber President’s award for outstanding service to Limerick and the region went to Denis Brosnan – an extremely popular choice reflected in the standing ovation that greeted Denis.
I’m already looking forward to next year’s!
What an outstanding event today hosted by DELL in their world-class facility in Raheen where they employ 1,200 highly skilled employees, many of them with global responsibilities within the DELL organisation. DELL hosted the LIT Mid-West showcase – over 150 start-up and emerging enterprises showcasing their products and services in a unique setting within the heart of the DELL organisation. A marriage between the highly successful large multi-national helping to nurture and promote the success of our budding entrepreneurs and the next generation of Irish businesses. And An Taoiseach dropped in with Gay Mitchell extending his planned 30 minute viist to 1.5 hours. This was the biggest enterprise showcase in Ireland outside of Dublin. Well done DELL, well done LIT. Two forward thinking and progressive organisations leading the way, showing active leadership and delivering so much support and confidence to the entrepreneurial community in Limerick and the Mid-West.
It’s a very exciting time to be in business in Limerick and the Chamber is thrilled to be showcasing and acknowledging the fantastic work that enterprises in the region are doing! Today we announced the short-list of the best in business for the Limerick Region Business Awards 2011. And wow, what a selection the judges had to choose from!!! The amount of innovative and successful businesses that entered the awards was just overwhelming! We had almost 100 entries which is a phenomenal number given that this is our inaugural year running the awards with our lead sponsor LIT.
I am so thrilled that we decided to run the awards and we will announce the winners at the President’s Dinner. This year the winners will not only be recognised as the best under the various category headings, but also all short-listed businesses will be showcased in front of the most important man in the Dail at the moment – Minister Michael Noonan! Let’s just say… it’s a rather unique and exciting opportunity!!
The Chamber continuously lobby for a pro-business environment and I think it’s fair to say that we in the Chamber are more aware than most of the problems and challenges facing businesses at the moment… but amidst all of the uncertainty and concerns that are in existence, there are also huge successes. And these awards are designed to celebrate the fantastic businesses that are creating jobs and economic opportunities for the Limerick region. And believe me – there are so many people and businesses out there succeeding despite the economic challenges we as a country and region face.
So put on your dancing shoes & book your place at the awards night/ presidents dinner – it’s on Friday 21st Oct in the Strand Hotel and it promises to be a night to be remembered. It’s the time for us to show that Limerick is not just a great place – but is the place – to do business in Ireland!
The list of finalists is available on the Limerick Chamber website – so are the booking details if you wish to attend the President’s Dinner/ Limerick Region Business Awards night.
Probably every business owner in every town and city in Ireland who is paying commercial rates would say they need a reduction in their rates… and let’s face it, in the current economic climate, every business in the country is looking to reduce their expenditure and unfortunately up to now, rates have not up for a meaningful reduction. Pay it or else! One’s trading climate and economic reality is irrelevant!
Perhaps I could be accused of being biased, but I genuinely believe that businesses in Limerick City are in urgent need of an immediate meaningful reduction in rates. Let’s look at the facts. In the last 11 years, rates in Limerick City have increased by 32% (from 57.45 in 2000 to 76.07 in 2011). Ok granted, this is not the steepest of increases, especially when compared to other rating authorities such as Meath, where during the same period rates increased by almost 75%… Although back in 2000 Limerick City happened to have one of the highest rates in the country so we weren’t exactly starting from the same base!
But where the real urgency for Limerick City arises is when the rate is compared to our counter-parts in the County: City is 26% higher – City is currently 76.07, County is 59.92! Let’s face it, the county is merely a few kilometers out the road from the central ‘core’ of the city … if you were a new business looking to establish in the Limerick region this differential would surely influence your decision on where to locate?
Denis Brosnan and the Limerick Local Government Committee in their report recommended the harmonisation of rates in the City to the County. Businesses that are struggling cannot wait until 2014 and the city cannot wait until 2014 to attract as many new businesses as possible into the city centre.
The question which needs to be asked now is – how long can the City afford to wait for this harmonisation? It is my strong belief that this has to be priority number one for the Implementation Committee now. City Rates need to be reduced immediately by 25%. This is the only way that the playing field can be levelled to allow healthy competition between the City and the County but also to allow Limerick City, as the capital of the region, to help attract in every possible new business oportunity into the city centre as well as helping to protect the exiting businesses operating in the city centre. The region needs the strongest possible city at it’s core. A meaningful reduction in rates will give a very positive signal that “Limerick City Centre is open for business”.
Competition to win a Limerick Region Business Award has started to heat-up! Entries are pouring in and the judging panel will have a difficult job deciding who to crown… Although we have 7 award categories so there is plenty of love to go around!!
Last week 3 award entrants Clean Ireland (Caroline Walsh), Snap Printing (Ashley Walker) and Action Point (David Jefferys) took the opportunity to showcase their business with one of our media sponsors – on the Limerick Today programme with Joe Nash… ( check out the podcast on http://www.live95fm.ie/music/podcasts-list.aspx?show_guid=dcd1e092-c888-4aa8-849c-9a0abbb5c296). Each company was great sport with an employees from each – Noelle O’Mahony, David Gardiner & Eilis Lacey all winning a free eye examination and designer pair of sunglasses worth €215.00 from Specsavers (a big thank you to Specsavers) and an additional days annual leave for correctly answering 3 questions about their employers! … 3 more companies to feature on Joe’s show this Thursday (15th!)…
Another award entrant got the opportunity to have their business feature with our other media sponsor - the Limerick Leader … I’ll post the link to John Twomey of Emutex interview as soon as I have it!
If you’d like your company to be randomly selected for some invaluable and FREE profiling by our media partners Live95FM and Limerick Leader then get your entry to us immediately….
The final closing date for entries is Friday, September 30th & the awards will be announced at the Limerick Chamber Presidents Dinner on Friday 21st October in the Limerick Strand Hotel. With guest speaker Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance, this is an ideal opportunity to showcase your business!
To download an application form click here and e-mail it to Katie @ the Chamber ASAP!! (info@limerickchamber.ie )
AND BEST OF LUCK TO THE BEST IN THE REGION!!!
Afer several months of speculation this Wednesday (7/9/11) it was confirmed that Belfast developer Suneil Sharma has purchased the currently abandoned, half-built development that is Parkway Valley on the suburb of the City. Although nobody can deny that the development, in its current state is nothing short of a complete eyesore and blight on the landscape, the completion of this development will have serious negative consequences for Limerick City and ultimately the greater Limerick Region.
As a regional Chamber we welcome any announcement that will bring investment and jobs for Limerick and the region. The development, which will be the largest of its kind in Ireland in the foreseeable future, is recognition of the potential Limerick has a real counter-pole to Dublin. As the capital of the Mid-West region, our improved road infrastructure has put us at the heart of the Atlantic Corridor, opening us up to other Gateway cities such as Cork and Galway giving us a critical mass population of 1.2 million! No wonder Mr. Sharma see’s the commercial potential of Limerick sand specifically this development!!!
But we cannot but worry about the impact that this development will have on a city centre that is already under retail pressure suffering from years of over-development on the suburbs, creating what must be the largest donought effect in the country! The saturation of retail developments and shopping centres on the periphery of the city is a damnation on years of poor local governance – years of competition between neighbouring authorities – years of poor planning. A legacy which goes against all healthy city-region balances: strong regions have strong cities at their core. And this is what we need to not just acknowledge, but actively pursue!
And yes, now we have the template for a new governance model, but is it too late? By all accounts the permission for the development in Parkway Valley is a done deal.
I personally don’t want to give-in. This announcement I believe creates the first real challenge for the new Limerick Local Governance Implementation Committee as chaired by Denis Brosnan. We have been told that the the new unified local authority will give us united joined-up thinking. I call on the Implementation team to now demonstrate that joined-up thinking, to address this situation in the context of what is best for the City and the region, to re-affirm the position of the city centre as the centre for growth and development for the region. I shudder to think what will happen to our historic and great city if they don’t actively generate this agenda with immediate effect.
As you are all probably aware at this stage, Minister Hogan made an announcement in relation to local governance in Limerick yesterday. After decades of debate the ghost has finally been laid to rest! We are going to have one new super-authority for Limerick! This will put an end to the blame game, it will ensure cooperation and integration of policies. It will improve the statistics on Limerick, making us a more attractive place to invest and do business. The formation of one new authority will also result in savings of between €15 to €20 million – savings which are going to be passed onto the business community! Minister Hogan very clearly stated that there is to be harmonisation of rates between City and County to County levels (this will be more than a 20% reduction for city based businesses in line with what Limerick Chamber has been lobbying for!). It also levels the playing field – up to now a premises in the urban area of Limerick city, but within the boundary of the County – was a more attractive option than establishing in the heart of the city.
At the Chamber we strongly feel that this is a unique and exciting opportunity for Limerick to pilot a new form of local government for the country. It is imperative that we don’t see this as an amalgamation of existing structures. No, this is a blank canvas. A new fresh start. An opportunity for a new strong local authority with vision and resources to lead our city and region into economic prosperity and growth giving the strongest possible message that “Limerick is open for Business”.
What is of utmost importance now is how this coming together of the two separate authorities, the Regeneration Agencies and the formation of a new authority is managed effectively and efficiently. The days of two-ing an fro-ing over the pro’s and con’s of this and that are passed. It is time to look forward. It is time to plan. It is time for a coalition of all the organisations required to make this new single authority successful. It is time to create a vision and goal for a strong dynamic city at the heart of a strong dynamic region. It is an exciting time for Limerick and the Chamber, as the voice of the business community, look forward to being an integral part of the implementation process.
