---

Today is Women’s Christmas – or Nollaig na mBan if you prefer. We’re taking this opportunity again this year to shine a light on a dynamic member of the ICCC Montreal community. Meet Karen Bright!

Karen is President of Halford Lewis Ltd., a food sector company founded in 1943. Karen had worked with the previous owner, Herb Lewis, for many years through the other company she owns, Werner Phillips. Karen purchased Halford Lewis in 2019.

The company’s early focus was on coffee, tea, and the spice industry.  Today, Halford-Lewis is a spice and herb broker, arranging sales between suppliers and clients in the food industry. Halford-Lewis represents suppliers in Egypt, India, China, Morocco, Indonesia and many other countries.  It is the exclusive agent in Canada for US-based essential oil and aroma chemical supplier Citrus and Allied, and its sister company, Trilogy Flavors. Halford-Lewis also has an exclusive agency with Caribbean island Grenada, handling that country’s nutmeg and mace sales in Canada and the USA.

Karen continues to expand Werner Phillips, the existing family salvage business. Her team of 5 continues to grow the company, managing a warehouse that is shared between both her companies

Why be a member of the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce in Montreal?

I joined the ICCC many years ago largely to get more involved with the Irish community but since then I have genuinely enjoyed meeting with the other members. There is often much of interest to learn from people in business and I have always enjoyed the networking opportunities.

What’s on the horizon

Over the course of her many travels, Karen has experienced the effect of climate change and water scarcity on general growing conditions around the world. While agriculture uses 75% of the world’s water supply, 90% of that consumption is typically lost to evaporation. Karen is currently working on another project, a water conservation technology called Water Pearls, that will reduce the evaporation of water from the soil by up to 75%. She recently showcased this technology in the Middle East. Karen’s company is in the process of preparing presentations for interested parties, and she is confident of the potential for business development. Working directly with the inventor and manufacturer of this technology, Karen and her team will be developing markets and sales through Halford-Lewis, in its capacity as agent.

Karen deserves a restful Nollaig na mBan, don’t you agree? We invite you to come meet Karen at one of the Chamber’s upcoming events. See you there!

---

Is Women’s Christmas – Nollaig na mBan – still a tradition in your family? Historically, on January 6th, the women of Ireland are celebrated and encouraged to put their feet up after working so hard over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Irish women would gather in pubs or in one another’s homes for gaiety and conversation, while their husbands watched over the children.

Today’s social roles have certainly changed, but at the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce, we’re all for highlighting Nollaig na mBan as an opportunity to celebrate our members and their achievements. What better time, then, to shine a light on a tireless member of the ICCC board, Immediate Past Vice-President Carol McCormick? Always ready to roll up her sleeves, Carol is a valued volunteer and the secret ingredient that makes ICCC’s in-person and virtual events memorable. Her work on our 30th anniversary celebrations was outstanding. Those of us who enjoyed ourselves on that wonderful June evening have Carol to thank.

A real estate broker and financial advisor with a background in advertising, Carol is currently Vice-President of RAM Canada Inc. This family business provides state of the art technology and custom solutions to emergency response professionals, including fire, police, first responders and homeland security. Always on the lookout for new opportunities, Carol and founder husband Brian Payne are currently focussed on expanding into new markets across North America.

One would think that running a company like RAM Canada would take up all of Carol’s time, yet she still finds the energy to volunteer not only for ICCC Montreal, but also for the United Irish Societies of Montreal, where she was Corresponding Secretary, for the Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation, as a communications committee member, and for the St. Patrick’s Society of Montreal, where she sits as Vice-President. Carol is Chair of the SPS Ball, a much-anticipated highlight of the St Patrick’s Society’s social calendar. The ball will be held on March 3rd this year, for the first since the outbreak of the pandemic. What’s more, Carol is President of the Montreal City Council Catholic Women’s league and Executive Director of The Pillars Trust Fund. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted!

Carol is a recipient of the St. Patrick Basilica’s Russell Breen Award for involvement in community work and the United Irish Societies’ Liam Daly Heritage Award for her contribution to the continual presence of Irish culture in Montreal.

Impressive.

Enjoy a well deserved rest on Nollaig na mBan, Carol! Thank you, Merci and Go raibh míle maith agat. We are grateful for all the time, energy and commitment you put into the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce’s activities, for your long standing contribution to the ICCC board, and for your dedication to Montreal’s Irish community and its organizations. Mo sheacht mbeannacht ort!

Would you like to shine the light on a fellow member of the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce? Reach out to ICCC Vice-President Michelle Sullivan at office@icccmtl.com.

---

Hotel software solutions provider P3 has announced plans to expand into the Canadian market after completing deals with three new clients in the country so far this year.

The three new contracts signed with Épik Collection in downtown Montreal, The Inn at Bay Fortune in PEI and Somerset Lakeside Resort in Ontario are P3’s first in Canada and come as the Dublin-based company, which has 20 years’ experience in the hotel technology sector, grows its presence across North America.

P3’s offer to clients is centered around establishing an integrated technology ecosystem. The company designs and builds solutions that encompass the entire guest journey, and which are powered by core products of custom booking engine and online check-in/out. This ecosystem allows hotels to deliver a customer journey that is quick, easy, seamless, digital, and yet still human and personal.

The expansion comes on the back of continued strong growth in recent years, driven by P3’s close partnership with hotel reservation system provider Oracle Hospitality and by the hotel industry’s permanent need for new and innovative solutions.

P3’s technology is richly and solely integrated with Oracle’s OPERA. As a Strategic Oracle Partner, hotel operators using OPERA and P3 can benefit from increased operational efficiencies and improved automated functionality.

The client acquisitions will allow P3 to create new jobs in the region to service assist these and any additional Canadian hotel brands which partner with P3.

The company’s success reflects a focus on technology to meet the challenges faced by the hotel sector. Contactless solutions such as online check-in/check-out and integrated secure payments facilitate labor-savings in hotel operations, making it simple to automate manual tasks, thereby freeing up the staff to focus on quality human interaction with guests.

Booking engines that can be fully customized in terms of functionality and design bring real benefits for both hoteliers and guests. A custom system that reflects the hotel’s brand identity and meets its business needs, results in a higher conversion rate and direct booking revenue. Customization for guests means giving them more control and choices to tailor their visit to their needs, which in turn yields greater loyalty.

Phelim Pekaar said: “One of the biggest learnings for the hotel sector from the past two years has been recognition of the need to change and innovate, to embrace technology and use it to your advantage. Hotels are clearly more receptive to technology.

“Lots of hotels which previously did not give enough consideration to this are now analyzing their IT infrastructure and are changing their older reservation systems to newer platforms, such as OPERA Cloud, which offer greater automation and operational efficiency.

“They want to realize the benefits that technology offers and are now looking for software solutions which allow them to enhance the guest experience and drive revenue growth. This shift is providing tremendous opportunities for companies such as P3.”

About P3 Hotel Software: Founded in 2000 in the aftermath of the tech bubble crash, P3 Hotel Software provides customized booking solutions for large independent hotels and hotel groups across the globe. Core products of custom booking engine and online check-in/checkout facilitate a smooth booking process for customers and an enhanced guest experience. P3’s solutions cover all stages of the online guest journey and integrate seamlessly with Oracle’s market-leading OPERA hotel reservations and property management system.

---

On 22 March, the President of the Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce Paul Dunne met with Senior Trade Commissioner, Susanne Drisdelle, and Trade Commissioner, Meena Bhullar, at the Canadian Embassy in Dublin to discuss a wide range of topics of interest to our members.

Role of Canada’s Trade Commissioners in Ireland

Canada’s Embassy in Dublin represents Canadian interests in the Republic of Ireland. The

Trade Commissioners work closely with their colleagues at the High Commission of

Canada in the United Kingdom (based in London) to respond to enquiries from Canada on doing business in Northern Ireland.. It should be noted that the ICCC is mandated to cover the full island of Ireland and, as such, we maintain close links to the governments and trade organizations of both Ireland and the UK.

Ms. Drisdelle and Ms. Bhullar contrasted their mission with that of the Irish Government’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA Ireland) and Enterprise Ireland. They provided an overview of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, which attracts Canadian companies to Ireland and assists them by providing market intelligence and establishing “quality contacts” – primarily leads or customers for their products and services. While IDA Ireland, by contrast, supports Canadian companies looking to open their offices in Ireland, with the objective of maximizing job creation in Ireland. These two agencies work closely together to support Canadian companies looking to expand into Ireland and, more broadly, into the EU.

Common Travel Area (CTA)

Mr. Dunne and the Trade Commissioners discussed a lesser-known advantage of choosing Ireland as an investment destination. Uniquely among EU countries, Ireland enjoys the benefits of the CTA, which effectively permits visa-free travel between the UK and Ireland and authorizes citizens of each country to live, work, have access to each other’s welfare and health systems and even vote in elections. This broadens the labor pool which, along with the English language and low tax rates, makes Ireland an extremely attractive investment destination in Europe.

CanExport Assistance to SMEs

They also discussed the CanExport program which may be of interest to many of our members. The program provides grants of up to $50,000 to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), defined as having up to 500 employees and between CAD$100,000-$100m in revenues, for export development expenses under the categories of travel, trade events, marketing, interpretation, contract assistance, tax and legal advice and more. On this topic, the Chamber intends to go into greater depth later this year by publishing an article on it for our members.

Mr. Dunne said: “Overall, this was an excellent and very productive meeting at the Canadian Embassy. The trade commissioners are very aware of our role as a Chamber, appreciative of our contribution to the trade relations between Ireland and Canada, and ready to support us in many of our activities. I wish to thank them for the time they took to meet with us – the intention is to arrange similar meetings with them again in the future, as well as other organizations and individuals who can help advance the endeavors of our members.”

---

The current pandemic has caused many of us to rethink much about the way we live our lives: remote working, supply chain management and shopping have become daily topics of conversation. Local shopping was de rigueur 100 years ago, but today Amazon seems well entrenched. What is the impact on our independent businesses? Restrictions are loosening but will we return to our old shopping habits or will reliance on our online options continue to grow? For those of us who wish to see independent businesses survive, it has never been so critical to support local shop owners by opening our pocketbooks as we walk through their doors. 

Through our collaboration with the Westmount Historical Association, we invite you to step back in time to the early 20th century for a sense of what shopping might have meant for Montrealers who also knew what it meant to survive a pandemic. We’ll introduce you to a few of the Irish entrepreneurs who built fortunes catering to their shopping needs:

James McShane

As last month’s ICCC webinar featuring Charles Fallon clearly demonstrated, supply management is critical to the economic vitality of a city like Montreal. In the early 20th century, an Irish Montrealer was at the centre of that dynamic. Much of Montreal’s imported goods arrived by boat. Indeed, at the time, Montreal was the country’s most important port.

Born in Montreal in 1833, James McShane would cap off an illustrious business and political career as the city’s harbour master from 1900 to 1912. It was under McShane’s direction that elevators were erected to accommodate a growing grain trade and that the Montreal Harbour Commission acquired its own locomotives. James McShane was a member of the board of the Montreal General Hospital (1890–1917) and of the Shamrock Amateur Athletic Association, as well as vice-president of the St Patrick’s Society.

Murphy’s Montreal Shopping Centre

The son of Irish immigrants, John L. Murphy took over his family’s linen importing business with his brother in 1861. By the time he sold his Montreal holdings to Simpson’s in 1905, Murphy’s Shopping Centre was located in a five-storey red sandstone building at the corner of Sainte-Catherine and Metcalfe streets where La Maison Simons now stands.

Since demolished, the impressive building boasted a fire-proof interior, large plate-glass windows, elevator and centralized cash system. The location is telling, as the construction of major department stores such as Murphy’s, Ogilvy’s and Morgan’s (now La Baie d’Hudson) on Sainte-Catherine street signalled the end of an era in Montreal: retailers no longer needed proximity to wholesalers in the city’s lower-town. A location more likely to attract customers was now John Murphy’s prime consideration. Having divested himself of his Montreal shopping emporium, and now 70 years of age, John Murphy continued to advise the new management of his Ottawa location. During his long career as a merchant, this Irish Montrealer had made more than 100 ocean crossings to buy quality goods from European suppliers and fashion houses. 

Robinson & Cleaver’s

Montreal households might have purchased Irish linen at Murphy’s or ordered it directly from Belfast’s Robinson & Cleaver. Whether “The Royal Irish Linen Warehouse” had a Montreal agent or simply advertised in the newspapers of the “colonies” such as the Gazette, remains unclear, but Robinson & Cleaver promised linen “made from the finest selected flax yarns and bleached by sun and dew”. The now-defunct company’s Belfast location, known as Cleaver House, remains one of the city’s iconic buildings. How many Westmount households still display its wares, one wonders?

ORAL HISTORY: DIANA MARTIN

SHOPPING LOCAL A CENTURY AGO

BY JAN FERGUS

First published in The Westmount Historian newsletter, vol. 21, no. 2, 46th edition, February 2021 (reprinted with kind permission from the Westmount Historical Association).

Most Westmount homes relied on deliveries 100 years ago. Diana Martin, who grew up here in the 1920s and 30s, has provided to the WHA many of her childhood memories, with the enthusiastic encouragement and help of her daughter in British Columbia, Wendy Hodges. Diana, at that time Wilson, describes among other things how goods were delivered to her house at 613 Belmont Avenue. Similar deliveries certainly took place at 178 Côte St. Antoine Road, as a surviving ledger among the Goode Fonds shows. But thanks to Diana, we can flesh out the ledger’s dry figures – because at age 96 and now in Toronto, she has recently written many lively, utterly engaging descriptions of her early life in Westmount. She sometimes actually illustrates what she remembers – as you can see in the page reproduced here.

“Shopping local” in 1929 meant that milk, bakery goods, ice, and above all coal were delivered by horse-drawn vehicles – and it was not easy, as Diana makes clear. Though her handwriting is wonderfully readable, here is a transcription of her words:

Horse-drawn ice wagon

One would put a cardboard sign in front window either 25 or 50 which indicated how large a block of ice was needed for the icebox. The ice box had: top was for ice, bottom for food, bottom pan for melting ice which had to [be] emptied regularly.

In winter milk was left between 2 back doors and the milk would freeze and cream would push the cardboard top up and we would eat the frozen cream. Our milk was in glass bottles delivered daily by milkmen.

Horse-drawn bakery wagon 

Driver would come with large basket to kitchen door, full of bread and cookies and we’d buy what was needed. (Later was replaced by big truck.)

Horse-drawn coal delivery

Men would deliver coal to basement coal shuttle window – put coal in canvas bags and toss it over shoulder. They were very strong and did this until the coal bin was full. The whites of their eyes w[ere] very red from the coal dust!

The Ice Men also put large canvas over their shoulders as they heaved the big blocks of ice on their shoulders to the kitchen to the ice box w. tongs (and used tongs for lifting ice and then to fit it in ice box used ice picks to chip if it didn’t quite fit – we loved sucking the chips that fell. We were allowed to climb on the back of the wagon and eat slivers of ice.

Diana’s account of hauling, then heaving the sacks of coal down the chute sounds like very heavy work, and the detail of red eyes irritated by coal dust makes us really feel how tough that job was. Similarly vivid is the hard work of the ice men using giant tongs for the 25- or 50-pound ice blocks, with canvas to protect their shoulders, then having to chip the ice to fit the ice boxes. But Diana also conveys the delight that deliveries could bring to children, able to eat the frozen cream off the top of the milk bottles and permitted to suck the slivers of ice that collected in the iceman’s truck.

The Goode yearly ledger, kept by Harriet Ellen Goode from 1915-1929, reveals that at least the coal men didn’t have to worry about making their way over mounds of snow and ice in people’s yards during the worst of winter. Huge loads of coal for middle-class homes were delivered earlier in the year. And those deliveries could represent a large proportion of a family’s budget. For instance, in May, 1928 Harriet wrote a cheque to Vipond-Tolhurst Coal Company for $203.78, which represented nearly 8% of her meticulously calculated expenses of $2585.66 for the year. But a bad winter could wreck calculations, which happened in the previous year. In September 1927, $170.00 worth of coal was delivered, but in the following March of 1928, Harriet Goode bought another two tons of coal at $18.00 per ton.

Big purchases like the yearly coal delivery were paid for by cheque, but Harriet used cash in hand to pay for lesser items. In the same March of 1928 that she paid $36 cash for more coal, she also doled out a total of $20.61 to the butcher, $17.80 to the grocer, $5.43 for fruit and vegetables, $5.24 for flour and bread, and $2.32 for milk. Likely the bread and milk were delivered, and perhaps the groceries as well, possibly the meat too. Most of these are billed six or seven times a month, more than once a week on average, but milk just once a month. Harriet’s monthly expenses just for the “house,” as she puts it, came to $137.86 during this month. She usually had to top up her cash in hand every month by withdrawals of $100 from an account at the Royal Bank. Her other monthly spending categories included wages, chemist, dry goods, stationery, boots and shoes, electric light, travelling, and finally sundries – where the coal purchases appear. In other words, Harriet Goode seems well suited for a pandemic lockdown – much better than most of us were last March, 2020.

Again, although it’s not clear how many deliverymen came to 178 Côte St. Antoine, Diana Martin tells us that various irregular vendors made occasional visits to Belmont Avenue. They certainly came to the Goode house as well. The “umbrella man” repaired umbrellas and sharpened scissors and knives “and we would see with fascination the sparks fly from the grinder,” indigenous women sold handwoven baskets made of sweetgrass, and a “great favorite” was the pork and beans man: “delicious! The beans were in small round dark brown pottery jars and smelled wonderful! He too had his wooden cart which he pushed.” The WHA hopes to publish an article based on more of these fascinating memories in a future newsletter.

A former English professor, Jan Fergus is the coordinator of the WHA Oral History Project and a WHA board member. 

IRISH MONTREAL’S TRAILBLAZERS

You can’t blame a man for trying. An entrepreneurially-minded Irish Montrealer, who wished to remain anonymous, posed the following question in the Montreal Star’s ‘Legal Queries’ feature on February 16th 1923:
“Is it legal to raffle a motor car, not for charity, solely for owner’s benefit?”
Sadly for them, the response was no.

Several Irish Montrealers have exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit throughout Montreal’s history. Whether they have remained anonymous, like the grocers, cobblers and icemen who certainly served Diana Martin’s Westmount, played a key role in the importing trade like James McShane, or built a shopping empire like John Murphy, you will continue to discover them through ICCC Montreal’s Trailblazers series. Stay tuned for more!

Michelle Sullivan of Michelle Sullivan Communications is Vice-President of the ICCC Montreal and Founder of HeSaidSheSaidStories.com and VosHistoires.com. 

---

• 68% of new jobs were created outside of Dublin.
• Enterprise Ireland publishes new three-year strategy for Irish business with ambition to create 45,000 new jobs by 2024 and increase exports to €30bn www.strategy2022.enterprise-ireland.com
• €61.6m funding approved for 341 Covid-19 impacted companies in 2021

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, and Enterprise Ireland, today announced that net jobs created in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland increased by 11,911 in 2021.

This is the highest annual increase in net employment reported by Enterprise Ireland.

Employment increased across all economic sectors, with particularly strong jobs growth reported in Life Sciences (14%), Business Services (12%) and Digital Technology (10%).

The positive jobs figures saw increases in employment across all regions in Ireland, with, for example, employment increasing by 9% in the North West and by 7% in the South East. In total, 68% of new jobs created were outside of Dublin.

In total, 20,342 new jobs were created by companies supported by Enterprise Ireland, resulting in a net job increase of 11,911 when job losses are taken into account. Total employment by companies supported by Enterprise Ireland in 2021 was 207,894.

Speaking at the launch today, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, said:

“Over 200,000 people now work in Enterprise Ireland client companies. That’s almost as many people working for multi-nationals. It’s great to see Irish exporting companies performing so strongly last year notwithstanding the disruption to trade caused by Brexit and the pandemic. There was a net increase in employment of almost 12,000.

“I am particularly pleased that jobs growth occurred in all regions with almost 70% of new jobs growth occurring outside of Dublin and particularly strong growth in the north-west and south-east. This is an extra-ordinary performance and I want to thank the Enterprise Ireland team for their phenomenal work in the year gone by. We are well on our way to meeting our target of having 2.5m people at work in Ireland by 2024.”

Commenting on the launch today Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Damien English, stated:

“The positive job creation results announced today are a testament to the talent, resilience and innovation of businesses operating in Ireland today. In conjunction with the dedicated and determined Enterprise Ireland team, they have tackled head on the impact of the pandemic to support and grow employment opportunities throughout the country. The strong regional performance evident in these results is very welcome news.

“I am encouraged by Enterprise Ireland’s new strategy which fits with the ambitions of our enterprise community to grow business, grow jobs, and grow into new markets. It supports Government’s National Economic Plan which has a strong focus on creating more and better jobs, and in ensuring that job creation occurs throughout the country. It also recognises the many lessons learned in dealing with the difficulties of the pandemic over the last two years. I particularly welcome the commitment that both Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs, working together, will ensure that companies of all sizes will be provided with a flexible service model in response to their growth and development needs.

In welcoming Enterprise Ireland’s end of year positive results, Minister of State for Trade Promotion Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy said:

“Enterprise Ireland has been a stalwart in sustaining enterprise throughout a very difficult year for business. Together we managed to overcome these barriers by commencing once again a number of important physical trade missions throughout 2021 to the Eurozone area, the Gulf region and the U.K. and reignited our transatlantic relationships with Canada and the U.S. Despite the great challenges I am delighted that nearly 1,400 new overseas contracts were completed in 2021 and 184 Enterprise Ireland assisted companies have entered new markets.

“In collaboration with the Local Enterprise Offices, great strides have also been made in accelerating the pace of innovation, digitalisation, and transition to a low carbon economy. I am happy that these core ambitions are also at the heart of Enterprise Irelands new strategy launched today and that Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs will continue to be an integral part of balanced regional development in the future”.

Commenting on the job results Enterprise Ireland CEO, Leo Clancy, said:

“Enterprise Ireland has been working with businesses throughout the country to ensure they can quickly recover from the impact of Covid-19 and continue to adapt to the new trading relationship with the UK. It is very important and welcome to see job growth in every key economic sector and every region.

“Our core focus for the coming years will be on helping our clients realise further growth resulting from the significant opportunities that a recovering global economy presents for the benefit of every community in Ireland.”

Other key achievements supporting jobs in 2021 highlighted in the End of Year Statement issued by Enterprise Ireland included:

• 125 new start-up companies supported
• 1,375 overseas contract secured with Enterprise Ireland assistance and the resumption in September 2021 of physical trade missions
• €61.6m in funding approved for 341 Covid-impacted companies in 2021
• 218 companies received funding of more than €100,000 to support other projects in 2021.
• €14.6m was approved for 1,048 projects under the Ready for Customs Grant.

Today also saw the launch of Enterprise Ireland’s new three-year strategy, entitled ‘Leading In A Changing World’.

The strategy sets out five key strategic ambitions for Irish enterprise and for Enterprise Ireland over the period 2022-2024 and beyond:

• Export-focused Irish enterprises delivering growth across all regions
• Ireland as a world-leading location to start and scale a business
• Irish enterprises achieving competitive advantage through customer-led innovation and digitalisation
• Irish enterprises leading globally on sustainability and achieving climate action targets
• Enterprise Ireland providing world-leading service to the companies it supports.

The strategy sets an ambitious target of creating 45,000 jobs over the next three years, increasing exports by Enterprise Ireland client companies to €30bn.

Commenting on the strategy, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said:

“The Government has an ambitious vision for the future of our economy. We want to bring job opportunities and growth to all parts of Ireland increasing total employment to a record high of 2.5 million by 2024. We want to restore and then go beyond pre-pandemic employment levels, creating secure, long-term jobs in new and exciting areas. To ensure our economy is diversified and future-proofed against shocks this means going for growth across a broad range of sectors including exports, construction, the public sector and the care economy, the new green economy, digital, tourism and services.

“This Strategy being published today fully aligns with that vision. I’m especially pleased to see the efforts being made to diversify our export markets, increase the number of start-ups by 20% and to improve our productivity. These will all add to the resilience of Irish businesses, preparing them to continue to succeed in an increasingly competitive global market.”

Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy said:

“Enterprise Ireland’s strategy 2022-2024, Leading in a Changing World, is set in a time of remarkable change for business. Business is being transformed by factors such as climate change, the accelerated adoption of technology, and changing trends in globalisation in a way that presents unprecedented market opportunities, notwithstanding ongoing challenges for companies.

“To succeed in changing times, Irish enterprises must invest to strengthen capability and competitiveness, respond quickly to changing consumer preferences, innovate ahead of competitors, and be flexible and open to changing business models.

“Resilient, internationally focused, and productive Irish enterprises are critical to the future growth of the Irish economy, supporting livelihoods and contributing to prosperity throughout Ireland. Enterprise Ireland’s strategy 2022-2024, Leading In A Changing World, sets out the key initiatives we will undertake to deliver on the ambitions for Irish enterprise.”

For more, visit www.strategy2022.enterprise-ireland.com