Dear Chamber Member,
I hope you, your families and colleagues are keeping safe and well.
It was a pleasure to welcome so many members, friends and colleagues to our Business Breakfast this morning, at which Elaine Laird of Logitech spoke passionately about the growth of their Cork operations, the journey to-date, how global changes shaped the company it is today and specifically the role the Cork site plays in this multi-billion dollar global company. Elaine also shared their commitment to sustainability and climate change, and her insights into the future of remote working. In this time of flux and change, the benefits of knowledge sharing, networking and shared goals for the benefit of our region are what have made the Business Breakfast our best attended events.
This week the challenge blocking the development of the M28 to Ringaskiddy was refused leave to appeal to the Supreme Court- a decision which now paves the way for the M28 Ringaskiddy upgrade to move ahead without further delay. This essential piece of infrastructure is of national and regional importance as the highly valued industry base, IDA land bank and the Port of Cork can now be facilitated in delivering on development and expansion plans, which are of heightened importance as the region responds to existing and potential demands post-Brexit. The project will also be an integral step for the long awaited regeneration and creation of vibrant communities in Cork’s Docklands.
It is now essential that the National Development Plan, currently under review, fully endorses the significance of this project and the need for it to move forward without any further delay with early government funding and construction timeline commitments. This will remain on our agenda as we continue to advocate for the progress required to unlock Cork's growth potential and to protect the international reputation of our vibrant city region.
The Cork Development Forum welcomes An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD to meet with members this week. This is a unique Forum through which stakeholders in the Cork region work in partnership to focus on development priorities that will ensure the continued growth of the Cork region as a thriving economic engine of regional and national growth. This will be followed by a meeting with An Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on Friday. The meetings with An Taoiseach and An Táinaiste this week will allow the opportunity to discuss issues of heightened importance to our business community such as Covid Business Supports, clarity of communications and more, to ensure that Cork is well placed to make a strong and sustainable recovery post-Covid and to achieve the growth objectives set out by Government in Ireland 2040.
As ever, please keep in touch with your observations and thoughts which help inform our advocacy and our representation of your business, industry and city region.
We encourage businesses to remain connected through our many events and to share the variety of webinars, networking sessions or training opportunities with colleagues who may wish to virtually step outside their office.
Our International Team currently has a 2-minute survey open though our Enterprise Europe Network to garner opinion on your experiences navigating trade post-Brexit, through which we welcome your input HERE.
You can contact me directly on 087-9471858 or by e-mail HERE.
Warm regards,
Conor Healy
CEO
