The investment has transformed a 200-year-old derelict church into a 10,000 sq ft innovation, R&D and science centre.
Future Cast, an Innovation, education and R&D not-for-profit focused on the construction and quarrying industry, has invested £3.25m in converting a 200-year-old church into a 10,000 sq ft innovation, R&D and science centre.
The funding will also enable the creation of 15 new jobs over the coming years, with opportunities for job seekers in physical and visual sciences, mechanical design, prototype development and specialist training.
The former St Clare’s Hall church in the town has been developed into a ‘state-of-the-art’ facility with a materials science laboratory, prototyping and machine development facilities, green skills training facilities and a concrete 3D printer.
The centre, supported by the Department of Business, Tourism and Employment under the Border Business Development Fund managed by Enterprise Ireland, will provide companies and designers with access to space, technical expertise and equipment, as well as opportunities to develop ideas, build prototypes and carry out R&D projects.
It is expected that skills training will include programs related to 3D concrete printing and maintenance of offshore wind energy infrastructure.
Future Cast is a European Digital Innovation Hub, helping companies across Ireland to achieve innovation, digitization and R&D support and currently employs 22 people across its existing premises in building W8 in Manorhamilton, Leitrim and Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon.
The projects represent a total of more than €5m invested in the development of business support in the construction, mining, manufacturing and wider industrial sectors in recent years.
Shane Kerrigan, founder of the W8 Center and director of Future Cast, said: “The opening of Future Cast’s new Research, Innovation, Development and Education center represents the next step in our mission to demonstrate that rural communities can be places where innovation, entrepreneurship and opportunity thrive.
“In partnership with the W8 Center, we are creating a new ecosystem that gives businesses, entrepreneurs, researchers and students access to world-class facilities, skills and opportunities that will help them succeed and grow in the future.
“We see this investment helping to build long-term economic sustainability, supporting our young people, enabling future industrial development and ensuring that the north-west and border region can play a leading role in Ireland’s future economy.”
And it affects the west and northwest, in April, the Enhancing Innovation in the Manufacturing Industry in Sligo, which is a joint venture between Atlantic Technological University, Sligo County Council and Leitrim County Council, has announced an expansion with a new Galway base of operations.
The AIM Center aims to strengthen its links within the medtech and life sciences sectors and for the first time will expand outside of Sligo.
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