Cavan as a Business Location
Cavan
Given its strategic geographical location, and the wide array of education, health and social amenities it offers, Cavan is a county which provides an excellent quality of life. With an abundance of skilled labour and a pool of well-educated and eager young people, Cavan has seen its population increase by over 4% (to 76,092) over the period 2011 to 2016 (www.cso.ie results of 2016 census).
The designation of Cavan town as a development hub under the National Spatial Strategy acted as a spur to development and expansion in the County. Cavan town is the County Town and a principle centre in the North Midlands.
For a wide range of information on the county, see -www.cavancoco.ie
For more information on Cavan as a destination for Business and Fun see www.thisiscavan.ie . At this site you can download a pdf brochure promoting Cavan as a location for investment.
Infrastructure
TRAVEL & ACCESSIBILITY
Situated on an important junction of two national routes, to Dublin and Belfast, Cavan is a gateway to and from Northern Ireland and is also a pivotal point on the east-west route to be developed between Dundalk and Sligo. While the southern area is now identified as being within the greater Dublin commuter belt, it has retained its unspoiled and attractive environment relatively free from traffic congestion. It is conveniently located within easy access of regional and international routes, as follows:
Air: Dublin International Airport, Belfast International and Belfast City Airports offer an international network of passenger and freight services within 90 minutes of Cavan. Airport Travel time (minutes) Dublin-70 Belfast- 90 Sligo- 90
Sea: The main ports of Drogheda, Greenore, Warrenpoint, Dublin, Larne and Belfast are all within easy reach of Cavan and provide all major services required by industry.
Road: Cavan’s central location positions it approximately 70 minutes’ drive from the greater Dublin ring road system (M50), and 90 minutes’ drive from Belfast. In terms of road access, the M3 motorway opened in 2010 allows for dual carriageway motoring from Dublin to the southern border of the county outside Virginia.
Public Transport: Bus Eireann (www.buseireann.ie) operates a service to and from Dublin on an hourly basis, Enniskillen 5 times daily and Dundalk, Galway and Belfast daily. Several private operators also provide services to Dublin, Athlone, Dundalk and other major centres.
ENERGY
Information on electricity power supply lines and substation locations can be found on www.esb.ie/esbnetworks
Information on Bord Gais supplies to the County can be found on www.bordgais.ie/networks . Bord Gais currently supplies natural gas to the towns of Kingscourt, Bailieborough, Cootehill, and Virginia.
TELECOMS/BROADBAND
Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN's) have been installed in the main towns across the County including Cavan Town, Cootehill, Kingscourt, and Bailieborough.
E-fibre broadband is being rolled out across the County this year.
1GB speed broadband is currently being rolled out in Cavan town this autumn by SIRO - press SIRO for more information.
Education
The educational infrastructure in Cavan is excellent. Cavan also offers access to 3rd Level Institutions such Cavan Institute www.cavaninstitute.ie as well as Dundalk (www.dkit.ie), Athlone (www.ait.ie) and Sligo (www.itsligo.ie) Institutes of Technology.
Pre School There are numerous pre-school facilities within the county. There are a number of registered full day-care providers and seven sessional service providers within 3-4 miles of Cavan town centre. Cavan County Childcare Committee, established in 2001, has taken on the task of promoting the development of a range of high quality affordable and accessible childcare facilities to meet the growing needs of working parents. See www.cavanccc.ie for further details.
Primary/Secondary There are eight primary and four post primary schools within a two-mile radius of Cavan Town. Most secondary schools are particularly proactive in promoting the concepts of entrepreneurship and self-employment amongst their pupils. This is demonstrated by numerous student achievements in enterprise competitions at regional, national and international levels.
Third Level
Within 1.5 hours of Cavan there are 6 Universities and 7 Institutes of Technology.
Universities
- University College Dublin,
- Trinity College Dublin,
- Dublin City University,
- National University of Ireland -Maynooth,
- Queens University Belfast &
- University of Ulster
Neighbouring Institutes of Technology
- Dundalk,
- Athlone,
- Dublin Blanchardstown,
- Tallaght,
- Dun Laoghaire,
- Sligo
Other 3rd Level Colleges
Cavan Institute, (www.cavaninstitute.ie), established in 1984, provides a wide range of third level certificate and diploma courses and is now recognised as one of the largest and most successful post leaving certificate colleges outside Dublin and Cork.
South West College, Enniskillen campus (www.swc.ac.uk) is located in Enniskillen, 35 minutes from Cavan, and provides access to fully certified graduate & postgraduate qualifications from the University of Ulster.
Outreach
Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre (CITC), www.cavanitc.ie , is an approved distance learning / outreach centre for the central border area. It has been developed as part of a cross border programme to support local, regional and national agencies in stimulating an environment conducive to innovation, entrepreneurship and inward investment in the Cavan / Fermanagh region. The Centre comprises reception / exhibition / display areas, administration offices, innovation offices / laboratories, a training facility, conference room and lecture theatre and is equipped with the most up to date information and communications technology (ICT), including audio visual equipment
Housing
Cavan town has sufficient lands zoned and serviced to accommodate development which will cater immediately for an increase of 6,000 new residents. In addition, substantial lands are either zoned and serviced or zoned and serviceable to accommodate substantial future development over the next 5-10 years, whether residential, industrial or commercial services. There are a large number of housing sites available from both the private sector and the local authorities. The local authorities have a serviced land bank of 40 acres within walking distance of the centre of Cavan town. The provision of private residential property, whether for owner occupier or investors, has continued at considerable pace over the past number of years. Consequently, there is no deficit in house provision in the town or indeed county, with a considerable further capacity in the industry to deliver increased numbers as required. Good forward planning by Cavan County Council has ensured there is serviced land at present to accommodate a population increase of 15,000 to 20,000 people within the county. (www.cavancoco.ie )
For a sense of current residential property prices in the County you can search through nationwide property websites like www.myhome.ie , www.daft.ie , www.propertypartners.ie or local estate agent websites (see on separate page for enterprise space).
Industry
Indigenous
Killykeen Forest Park
Cavan has been primarily dependent on indigenous development as its main source of wealth and job creation and much success has been achieved on this front. Some key Irish owned industries located in the County include:
Foreign Direct Investment
Examples of some of the International companies that have found Cavan to be an effective location:
IDA Ireland is the main state enterprise agency charged with promoting the County as a location for overseas firms. www.idaireland.com .
Local office -Tel: 00-353-49-4368820
Enterprise Ireland is focused on the development of Irish owned companies. www.enterprise-ireland.com.
Local regional office -Finnabair Ind. Est, Dundalk - Tel: +353-42-9354400
Health
Cavan boasts a modern 240-bed purpose built regional hospital offering a wide range of specialist facilities. Some of these specialities are Coronary Care, Dermatology, Oncology, CT scanner, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, ICU unit, Chest medicine, Psychiatry, Physiotherapy, Ophthalmology, Pathology, Dialysis unit, Orthopaedics, General Medicine and Surgery
Social
Cavan Town is a bustling market town with an extensive range of fine retail outlets including boutiques, book stores, toy shops, gift/craft shops, etc. A number of the major stores are also located here including Dunne’s Stores, Tesco's, Woodies, Lidl, and Argos.
Following a concerted effort in recent years, Cavan or - The Lake Country - as it is known, is becoming increasingly popular for short breaks and activity holidays. With some excellent hotels such as the Slieve Russell Hotel, (www.slieverussell.ie); Cabra Castle (www.cabracastle.com); the Cavan Crystal Hotel (www.cavancrystalhotel.com), the Farnham Radisson SAS (www.farnham.radissonsas.com) and the Hotel Kilmore (www.hotelkilmore.ie), Cavan offers first class facilities for leisure or business purposes alike.
Cavan is a haven for those who enjoy the great outdoors, whether their interests lie in angling, field or water sports, pleasure cruising, golfing, horse riding, walking or cycling. All of these facilities are within a five to ten minute drive from the town. There are numerous sporting facilities and clubs in or around Cavan town including: - An 18-hole golf course just outside Cavan town (with four more within 18 miles of the town, including the renowned Slieve Russell Golf & Country Club), a tennis club with five floodlit hard surface courts 4 G.A.A pitches 2 soccer pitches rugby football club squash, handball, racquetball, badminton & basketball clubs judo, boxing, and athletics 25m swimming pool and leisure complex Cavan International Equestrian Centre Multi screen cinema complex
Cavan has an abundance of high quality restaurants catering for all tastes and pockets. They include the award winning McNean's Bistro and The Old Poste Inn. The local pubs, hotels and nightclubs provide a variety of evening entertainment. There are numerous clubs and societies, including drama, musical, film, bridge, gardening, Irish & Ceili dancing and ballet, to name a few!
For more information on activities, restaurants, and accommodation see www.thisiscavan.ie
