Speech by the Taoiseach at the Official Opening of the New Smarthomes Factory, Finnabair Industrial Park, Dundalk, on Friday, 8 December, 2006 at 3.50 p.m.
I have heard it said that whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision. Sean Gallagher and Derek Roddy are two such courageous men. They saw a gap in the market, developed a unique product and have worked hard to make it a success.
The scale of their achievement is clearly evident today with the opening of their new 30,000 square foot Smarthomes facility here in Dundalk. This marks a €10m investment by the Company which will give rise to an additional 100 jobs over the next three years, bringing total staff numbers here to 150. A high proportion of the new jobs will be high-skilled requiring technical, electronic, research, sales and marketing qualifications. This is tremendous news for Smarthomes and for Dundalk.
The success of Smarthomes and of other Irish entrepreneurial companies, is a foundation stone of Ireland’s remarkable economic performance over the last 10 years.
It is especially exciting that this business venture is based on a product set to revolutionise the way new homes access existing and emerging technology. It is truly a home-grown enterprise with the system specifically designed, manufactured and patented in Ireland.
Of course, with an ever greater variety of communications and entertainment platforms available to us, there is a real danger that we could suddenly find our homes wired like spaghetti junction. To avoid this, Smarthomes has come up with an innovative cabling solution that is centrally controlled from one specially designed streamlined box.
This system is installed at the construction stage of a house and allows for access from every room to a range of services. This includes standard phone, broadband and TV, as well as CCTV Security, programmable mood lighting and remote control of heating via mobile phone.
And the real beauty of this system is that it eliminates the need for future re-cabling or chasing of walls. This provides a distinct advantage and a unique selling point for property developers. I know that Smarthomes has worked closely with builders, architects and telecom and TV service providers to ensure that their business flourishes.
In recognition of its innovative and pioneering work, the company has been a winner in the All-island Intertrade-Ireland Seedcorn competition and was awarded the Deloitte ‘Rising Star Award for New Technology Companies in Ireland’. These are but two of the many awards that the company has received.
It is always very gratifying to see a home-grown business make such great strides. When that business is also technology-related, its success is particularly welcome, given this country’s stated aim of developing as a knowledge economy and our investment to this end in our Science and Technology Strategy. In line with this, the Government was delighted to announce in the 2007 Budget that we are enhancing the existing R&D tax credit for firms so as to promote R&D spending in our manufacturing sector.
Dundalk is well placed to build on the success of companies such as Smarthomes, given its strategic location as a Gateway town midway between the two major cities of Dublin and Belfast. Already you are seeing the benefits of the recently completed M1 from Dublin which has significantly enhanced access to Dundalk. The upgrade of the road to Newry is also due for completion next year.
We can look forward to continued economic and social development in Dundalk under the National Spatial Strategy. The forthcoming National Development Plan 2007 – 2013 will strongly support the delivery of the NSS, particularly the development of the Gateways, so that we can ensure balanced regional development.
IDA Ireland is actively marketing Dundalk for new inward investment and they have completed a €5 million development here at Finnabair Business Park to bring it to "flagship" standard. A Metropolitan Area Network to service the Park was completed in September 2005.
The future for Smarthomes and for Dundalk is certainly looking good. I want to once again congratulate Sean and Derek for their remarkable achievement in creating such a business success. I am sure that back in the days when he was an Advisor to Dr Rory O’Hanlon, our Ceann Comhairle, Sean did not foresee that he would be here today and would be so centrally involved in bringing such a major investment to Dundalk!
I am sure that Smarthomes will continue to go from strength to strength. I wish you every success with your plans to expand into the UK market and for the overall future of your company.
Thank you for your attention.
ENDS