€750K more for Innovation Centre

The members of Monaghan County Council at their monthly meeting on Monday unanimously supported a proposal that the Council commit a further €750,000 in support for the BioConnect Innovation Centre, a research and development facility for the agri-food sector being constructed at a 1,639 sq m site on industrial lands in the Knockaconny area of Monaghan Town.

The project, first announced in 2018, was hailed as an important regional support for food industries and a potential source of graduate employment for young people from County Monaghan. It has received significant Enterprise Ireland funding and previous funding commitments from the local authority in the county.

Midland Construction was appointed as the main contractor in 2022 and construction was scheduled for substantial completion in the second quarter of 2025. However, the project remains uncompleted.

The update came in response to a question posed by Cllr Seán Conlon (SF) at the February meeting of Monaghan Co Council.

The decision to allocate the funding followed a presentation and debate, which was held in committee and continued for almost an hour. Commercial sensitivity was cited as a reason for the council going into in-committee session, which precludes reporting of the proceedings by the media.

Then, in public session, the Cathaoirleach, Cllr P J O’Hanlon (FF) told the members that they had held “a frank and open discussion” and were all aware of the proposal by Cllr Alan Johnston (FG), seconded by Cllr Seán Conlon (SF), that the Council commit further support of €750,000 to the BioConnect project.

Chief Executive Robert Burns said it would be reflected in the minutes that the ask was for €750,000 and there was a recommendation from the Corporate Policy Group that there be no further funding given.

Unanimous support was then indicated for the proposal, and the meeting proceeded to the next business.

In the written reply given to Cllr Conlon at the latest council meeting, industry partners in the project were listed as including MBio or Monaghan Biosciences, Lakeland Dairies, Manor Farm, Silver Hill Foods and Dutch DNA, who were described as “initial member companies contributing to BioConnect”. Monaghan Mushrooms was also mentioned separately as a contributor to the project.

Cllr Conlon was also given a breakdown of the finances committed to the project up to December 2024. The total financial commitment at that time was €6,136,002, the breakdown of which was: Monaghan Municipal District, €370,000; Monaghan County Council, €92,983; Monaghan County Council cashflow, €650,000; Monaghan Mushrooms, €311,669; Lakeland Dairies, €50,000; Enterprise Ireland, €4,619,228; and Service Billing, €42,122.

Projected figures for the end of construction period envisaged the total financial commitment rising to €7,025,341, through the Monaghan Mushrooms contribution increasing to €350,000, Manor Farms committing €50,000 and Silver Hill and PE Services/Linwoods/SB committing €30,000 each, Enterprise Ireland’s contribution rising to €5,311,358 and the Service Billing element rising to €91,000.

Further jobs

Cllr Conlon was also informed: ‘BioConnect will build an initial team of four direct employees (two in place now) to enable operations to begin.

‘Further recruitment to build a wider team to deliver biotechnology projects for partners and biotechnology training will be dependent on securing further funding. Various large funding opportunities have been identified and are in progression.

‘Leasing of the upper floor of the facility and expansion of [the] direct project is expected to generate up to 150 new jobs.’

It was also confirmed that the operational costs of the facility would be met through a combination of income from customer projects, rental income from first floor leasing, training income and large strategic grant funding.

When Cllr Conlon asked about managerial oversight, he was informed that this would be the role of a governance board comprising existing board members from Monaghan County Council, industry partners and representatives of Enterprise Ireland and Government agencies, with additional members invited from key academic and education partners.

It was stated that an advisory board would also be created, “to advise BioConnect on activities, partnerships, technical matters and commercialisation. Its membership will include industrial technical experts, key academic partners and innovation specialists.”

Cllr Conlon was told that the core objective of the project was to support companies seeking to innovate and develop high-value products and processes “with a clear focus on reduction of environmental impact”.