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    Another week of mixed fortunes for Irish economy

    Last week brought good news from two Irish companies – Kerry Group and Paddy Power – and it’s great to see Irish companies expanding their operations inIrelandand creating over 1500 new jobs in the process.

    However, the week also brought news of the demise of the meat processing company Olhausen, an Irish company that closed its doors after over 100 years of trading, resulting in the loss of 160 jobs. The employees of Olhausen who are waking up this morning with no job will get no comfort from the creation of jobs in Kerry Group and Paddy Power. In recent weeks we saw similarly conflicting news when EA announced a new operation inGalwaywith the creation of 400 jobs, and within days we heard of the closure of their Dublin-based subsidiary PopCap, with the loss of almost 100 jobs.

    Announcements regarding job creation and company expansions get the headlines but established businesses are continuing to close in Ireland on a regular basis. Whilst the efforts of Enterprise Ireland are to be applauded for their success in attracting new companies to Ireland, is enough being done to ensure the survival of existing businesses? We continue to hear anecdotal evidence of companies struggling to obtain finance and it is not just affecting struggling businesses – I recently met with a client who has the potential to significantly grow their Irish business but cannot do so without investment, and they cannot get the required finance from their bank to fund the growth. The growth of indigenous Irish businesses has the ability to create jobs, but without investment, which in most cases means obtaining finance from the banks, these jobs will fail to materialise. The government recently launched their microfinance scheme for small businesses, only time will tell if it is a success, but it has its limitations – it is only open to small businesses and in order to qualify a request for credit must first have been declined by the banks. The question is, how many small businesses will run out of cash and fail before getting through the bureaucracy of the new scheme?

    On a more positive note it was reported that in Q3 (July-September 2012) a total of 9,233 company and business start-ups were formed in Ireland. It’s encouraging to see that despite all the doom and gloom there are still entrepreneurs who continue to establish new ventures. Not all of these will succeed, but those that do will provide employment for years to come, and hopefully there’s a future Kerry Group or Paddy Power among them.


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