Economy of Limerick

Riverpoint Building, Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland [1] and is the capital of Ireland's Mid-West Region comprising the counties of Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary. Traditionally Limerick's economy was mainly agricultural of which a lot of industry in the city was based around due to the citys proximity to the Golden Vale. Important industries at this time were the bacon industry and Limerick lace which provided much employment. Limerick Port was also the main port on the west of Ireland where much this produce was exported. Today Limerick's economy is driven by a cluster of industrial and business parks located along the Limerick/Shannon corridor which include the National Technology Park, Raheen Business Park & the Shannon Free Zone. Limerick/Shannon is also recognised as a gateway city as part of the National Spatial Strategy.

Statistics

County Clare, County Limerick and North Tipperary as part of the Mid-West region with a population of 360,000 has a GVA of €10.7bn(2005).

[2]According to Eurostat figures for 2012, the region has GDP of €11.468 bn and a GDP per capita of €30,300

Most of the industry in the Mid-West is concentrated around the Limerick urban area and the Shannon Free Zone, centred on the Limerick Suburban Rail network.

The main urban centres in the region are the Limerick urban area with almost 100,000, then Ennis (25,000), Shannon (9,000), Nenagh (9,000), Thurles (8,000), Newcastle-West (7,000).

Limerick is the second largest city in the province of Munster and Ireland's third largest city according to the 2011 census carried out by the CSO.

Here are some of the companies within this area:

There are two main third-level institutions, University of Limerick and Limerick Institute of Technology which have a combined population of over 20,000 students.

National Technology Park

The park is located just outside Limerick city adjacent to the Dublin motorway and University of Limerick.

It covers 300 hectares and hosts some 80 companies employing 3,000 people. [3]

Shannon Free Zone

The Shannon Free Zone is a 600-acre (2.4 km2) site in County Clare, located 15 minutes from Ennis and 20 minutes from Limerick city. Over 7,500 are employed in the business park, making it one of the biggest in the state and a huge employment hub in the region.

Companies located there include: Avocent, GE Capital, Ingersoll Rand, Intel, Lufthansa Technik, Mentor Graphics, Molex, Shannon Aerospace, Shannon Engine Support, RSA Security and Veritas Software, Genworth, First Names Group, Pepper, IDA and many others.

Westpark Shannon

It is a new modern business park set on 40 acres of land in Shannon.

The park has 50 companies with 2,000 employees.

The project has cost 65 million euro. [4]

Shannon Airport

Shannon Airport is the key piece of infrastructure in the region and is extremely important for companies in the region to have easy access to other international markets by using the airport.

The airport is the 3rd busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland with 1.63 million passengers in 2011.

Infrastructure

Business parks

The IDA business parks in the Mid-West region are:

Limerick:

Ennis:

A range of privately owned properties are also available in Ennis.

Thurles:

Service Industry

Limerick is the main retail centre in the Mid-West. The Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle is the largest shopping centre in Ireland outside of Dublin and the largest in Munster. The shopping centre expanded in the early 2000s to become one of the largest in Ireland. There are also a number of other retail outlets in Limerick including the city centre.

See also

References

External links

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