Every town should have a business park – Cllr McVitty

Every town in Cavan needs its own business park.

Fine Gael Councillor Peter McVitty proposed the motion at last week’s meeting of Cavan County Council.

Speaking in the council chamber, he suggested “a business park could be constructed to facilitate the development and growth of indigenous service and manufacturing” in each town where a business park does not yet exist. The west Cavan man believes very little warehouse space is available across the county, which stops companies investing in Cavan.

Cllr McVitty contended these business parks would increase revenue for the council through rent, and encourage new businesses into the county. He proposed writing a letter to Minister for Enterprise, Simon Coveney, requesting funding be made available for the purchase of this land.

Independent councillor Shane P O’Reilly supported the motion, referencing the relevance it would have in his own town of Mullagh.

“Mullagh is a small village on the cusp of the N3,” he said, stating the location would be perfect for a business park.

He also told the meeting he had “long advocated for a business park” in the area.

Also showing support, Sinn Féin's Paddy McDonald highlighted how retired Cllr Paddy O’Reilly (FG) had long since been calling for council-owned land, which had been earmarked as a business park in the Virginia area, to be progressed.

He reminded how three companies, which intended to set up in Virginia, were forced to “move to Kells” when the plans didn’t develop.

In response, Brendan Jennings, Director of Services, made reference to a number of international companies, which have set up in the county in the past number of years, referencing Publicrelay, an American company that opened an office in Cavan Digital Hub in 2019.

He also spoke of the success seen in Cootehill where a “they will come” approach was used. Mr Jennings explained the town had welcomed many businesses into its business parks, which resulted in 1,200 people commuting to the town every day.

He believes private sectors should be maximising this potential, stating “something is wrong that they're not doing it”.

However, Mr Jennings explained no such public funding is currently available for such a project. Responding to Mr Jennings, Cllr Aiden Fitzpatrick said “it’s not good enough that money isn’t being supplied from our country” to support these types of initiatives. He outlined that, while the current infrastructure in Cootehill is a great success, more should be done to “keep the wheels in motion”.

“It’s holding Cootehill back,” he added.

Cllr Fitzpatrick concluded by insisting “every town should have an enterprise centre”.

Councillors Peter McVitty (FG), John Paul Feeley (FF), Áine Smith (FF), Sarah O’Reilly (Aon), Philip Brady (FF), Patricia Walsh (FF), Carmel Brady (FG), Winston Bennett (FG) and TP O’Reilly (FG) also spoke in support of the motion. It was agreed to send a letter to Minister Coveney, requesting funding be made available to create business parks in every town in the county.