News & Events

Business Minister visits Skibbereen West Cork, Ireland’s first 1GB town

Pat Breen TD, the Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection visited the town of Skibbereen, West Cork on Friday May 11th, 2018.

During his visit the Minister visited the Ludgate Hub; O’Donnell Design; West Cork Distillers and Spearline to see at first-hand the positive impact the 1GB connectivity has had on Skibbereen and on these four very different but dynamic businesses. Speaking after his visit, Minister Breen stated "It's so impressive to see how Skibbereen has embraced the digital agenda. The four companies I visited today now employ over 200 employees between them, making a significant contribution to the West Cork economy. Skibbereen is an example of how a small town in a peripheral part of the country can thrive once the right conditions are in place.’

Minister Breen met with representatives from each of the businesses who discussed with him how being based in Ireland’s first 1GB town has helped their business grow, both in national and international markets.

Adrienne Harrington, CEO of the Ludgate Hub, who relocated from Dublin to West Cork last year to take up her post said ‘’It is an honour to welcome Minister Breen to Ludgate, Ireland’s first rural digital hub and to Skibbereen, Ireland's first 1GB town. The companies based here in Skibbereen have shown that location is irrelevant, and with good connectivity, we here in West Cork have proved that we can do business on a par with any location.”

Managing Director at O'Donnell Design, Aodh O'Donnell, said “O’Donnell Design prides itself in the ability to deliver high quality furniture to the 5* hospitality markets from our manufacturing facility in Skibbereen, West Cork. The 1GB connectivity has enabled us to download large design files in minutes where historically this could have taken up to 24 hours. This has resulted in improved relations with our clients in the UK and Europe, leading also to improved competitiveness and our service available to the industry.”

John O'Connell, a co-founder of West Cork Distillers said that ‘’We are proud to be exporting our products to over 60 countries worldwide from Skibbereen, and we couldn't be doing that without the connectivity that we have here in the town. This has allowed us to create over 45 sustainable jobs in this part of Ireland where the 3 co-founders were born.’

Kevin Buckley, CEO and co-founder of local software company, Spearline Group added that "From our base in Skibbereen, Spearline Testing has grown to be the world's largest tester of toll and toll-free numbers. Our new Risk and Compliance arm has again proven that successful global businesses can be run from anywhere. Skibbereen and its hinterland have received a considerable economic boost since the arrival of the 1GB connectivity, with a new confidence visible in the area.”

For further dates, please contact Adrienne Harrington, CEO, Ludgate Hub at 087 2315024 or adrienne@ludgate.ie