Businesses need broadband fast

A number of industry leaders in the county recently met with Cavan Monaghan Government Deputy Heather Humphreys, now Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, to lobby her on a range of issues stifling the development of their businesses. The pow-wow, which was hosted by Abcon Products Ltd, took place in Cootehill earlier this month and top of the agenda was the need for high-speed broadband...

“The purpose of today was to get businesses like ourselves together and network, so that we could bring forward items that are of common concern to us all to the attention of Minister Humphreys. The intention was to pool ideas and come up with positive suggestions that the Minister might take on Board and bring to the attention of some of her colleagues,” explained Barry Smith of Abcon, which has two manufacturing units on the site at the Cavan Road in Cootehill.
The business manufactures rubber industrial hoses in one unit under the trade name of CavMac Industrial Hose; while the second unit manufactures industrial abrasives including sanding belts and discs for the metal working industry.
Employing 109 people, the company exports to Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia. “We expect under that programme to grow to 125 jobs,” said Mr Smith, who also acknowledged the assistance of other local companies such as PQE Technology Ltd and Cootehill Precision Engineering, which collaborate with Abcon on a number of products.
Invest in Irish businesses
Mr Smith believes that the government should focus its attention on homegrown industries and helping them to grow and prosper, rather than depending on attracting multinationals here to create employment.
“Foreign direct investment gets the headlines but we think, in a place like Cavan, we should foster a culture of entrepreneurship and self reliance and also to combine industrial development with education, to change the cultural dynamic where young people will see a career in industry just as attractive as being in teaching or nursing,” he suggested.
In order for that to happen, Mr Smith said that more “joined up thinking” is needed from the Department of Education right through to social policy and business development.
“I am a strong believer in service-based manufacturing. It does not require huge infrastructure but can be developed across from IT to what we are doing here in manufacturing a product. That is what is going to create sustainable jobs in middle Ireland,” he explained.
In the period of six years, Mr Smith said that Abcon had grown its exports from 15% of what they manufacture to 40% of their products today. “If we can export from a place like rural Cavan, then lots of people can do it. We are at no disadvantage to anyone in the Far East in service-based manufacturing. It is not mass production,” he explained.

Broadband must be 'priority’
The managing director of PQE Technology Ltd told the Celt following the business forum that the lack of high-quality broadband in Cootehill is seriously hindering businesses based there. Acknowledging that Eircom is set to deliver efibre broadband to the town next year, Paul Quinn said that there needs to be a plan to prepare businesses and households for its rollout.
PQE Technology Ltd employs 40 people and are sub-contract manufacturers. The business supplies products to companies like Combilift and to agricultural machinery manufacturers like McHale.
“We want to expand and we want to export and all our dealings with places like the UK are done online. The number one priority to develop rural areas and create employment is by putting high speed broadband in place,” said Mr Quinn.
The managing director of Ballytherm in Ballyconnell, Brendan Cosgrove, agreed. “Broadband badly needs to be upgraded in the county. I think, to be fair to the Minister, she fully understands that. She is going to take it back to Government, with a view to pushing it on for the entire county.
“Businesses today can’t work without proper broadband. Take a simple thing like an order coming into your business. They are all processed by email and, if you don’t get them on time, you will not be able to dispatch them on time and that is what customers require,” said Mr Cosgrove.
Ballytherm manufactures insulation boards for the construction Industry. “There is a pick-up but unfortunately it is predominantly around the east coast, the Dublin area. It has not moved out into rural Ireland, as yet, but hopefully that will come,” added the Ballytherm boss.

Enterprise Ireland funding
The divisional manager with Enterprise Ireland, Tom Hayes, also attended the meeting. He is tasked with looking after entrepreneurship, the regions and potential exporters. He said that Enterprise Ireland will be administering €100m to support businesses over the next while. The percentage of that funding forthcoming to areas like the Border region will depend on the type of projects and applications submitted.
An additional €5m is also to be allocated to the Local Enterprise Offices. Mr Hayes said it was a tremendous credit to the people running the operations he visited in Cootehill, which are providing up to 150 jobs. “They are not just providing employment directly but there is also indirect employment, which is provided as a consequence of the manufacturing operations,” he noted.

'Hive of industry’
Following the discussion, Minister Humphreys said described County Cavan and Cootehill, in particular, as “a hive of industry”.
She acknowledged that poor-quality broadband in rural areas is a major issue, particularly for businesses. “It is now the same thing as ESB and water, it is absolutely essential to have broadband,” she said.
“An assessment has been done and a report will be prepared very shortly and I know that Minister Alex White [Communications] intends to go out to tender for the provision of broadband in rural areas, that will get Government support. The private sector does not feel that it is feasible to go into those areas, so it is important that Government provides support. There will be an investment to provide this broadband. Everybody in this country needs to same level of access to broadband, regardless of where they live and it is so important for industries,” added the Minister.
She concluded that supporting businesses to grow and expand “is all about a collaborative approach including Government, education and enterprise offices working with businesses to give them the supports to do what they do best”.
Other industry heads at the meeting included Dominic Finlay, corporate affairs manager, Liberty Insurance and Ronnie Delaney, group financial controller with Obelisk.