A DRIVE to regenerate
the North West by tapping into the skills of local
people working abroad moves to London this week.
The Derry Donegal Diaspora project will have its
British launch in the City on Thursday and will be
attended by key players in the public and private
sector, education, Government and other agencies.
Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC)
NW regional director Pádraig O’Grady said the
project was "a necessary part of our economic
development".
“It is enabling people to join a network linking
them to jobs and business back home, and allows us
to tap into the huge resource which our Diaspora
represents," he said.
Diaspora project co-ordinator Aeidín McCarter said
the London event follows a very successful Dublin
launch.
"People immediately understood the value of our
network and wanted to sign up, so we are optimistic
that this will also be the case in London, as so
many of our emigrants are based there,” she said.
The London launch will be addressed by Donegal-born
Sir Roy McNulty, chairman of the Civil Aviation
Authority and of the Derry urban regeneration body,
ILEX. The Director of Innovation at the University
of Ulster, Tim Brundle, will also address the event
about cutting edge research at the UU's Magee campus
that has commercial potential for the region.
Meanwhile, the IBEC regional director said business
and employment opportunities in the North West were
at an "all time high".
Figures from the Donegal Local Development Company
show that more than 2,000 new micro-businesses were
set up in the region in the last ten years, creating
over 3,500 jobs.
“Despite major job losses, from an economic and
business point of view we are very much healthier
than we were ten years ago,” said Mr. O’Grady. “What
is amazing is the spirit of people here - they are
not waiting for someone to help them, they are
getting on with it themselves and this is boosting
business start-ups.”
The Diaspora project is part of the wider economic
programme - Ireland North West - Making Business
Happen - aimed at fostering growth and co-operation
between the two jurisdictions. The North West Region
Cross Border Group’s INTERREG IIIA Partnership,
provided €790,000 to the project through the
European Union’s INTERREG fund.
Its chairperson Christina Mullan said the group was
delighted to fund a project uniting agencies across
the border and which "reaches out in such a concrete
way to draw our Diaspora into the North West
economy”. |
