Council is urged to find tenants for Ballina’s new innovation hub

Mayo County Council has been urged to find businesses to take up residence at the Ballina Innovation Quarter.

The €3.2m project has been under construction since September 2021 and has seen the town’s 18th-century Military Barracks transformed into a digital hub and innovation centre comprising around 20 units and providing the capacity to create up to 210 jobs. It was funded under the Urban Development Regeneration Fund and construction is due to be complete in the next month.

Fine Gael Cllr Jarlath Munnelly told the Western People that the potential of the project is “limitless” but he fears the units may be left empty for a period unless the council becomes more active in seeking tenants.

“This was designed as an innovation hub with an emphasis on startups but there is a large space suitable for an anchor tenant, a medium-sized enterprise could be accommodated here.”

“My frustration is that we’re nearing completion and we should have been working on ensuring there will be businesses in there.

“I’m not saying no work has been done, the council has had conversations regarding the enterprise side of things, but we need to see some urgency.”

Cllr Munnelly does not expect the Ballina Innovation Quarter to be fully occupied on day one but is adamant it should not be left largely vacant for long periods.

“We can’t have it empty from the start. Some of the buildings might be vacant for a while, some might house start-ups that could expand on-site or have to move to a green field site with their growth.

“I’m sure there are start-ups on the East Coast who would look to move here, the potential is limitless.”

At last week’s meeting of Ballina Municipal District, Cllr Munnelly said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar should be invited to the launch of the Innovation Quarter.

“We need to write to the Taoiseach and invite him down for the launch, that will ensure we get good enterprises in there.”

Independent Cllr Mark Duffy said the Innovation Quarter is a really positive addition to the town but said he was frustrated that the council has yet to go out to public consultation to find parties interested in setting up there.