Business Support

The Creative Ireland Cultural Team in Louth is pleased to announce an open call for Louth based creative practitioners to submit applications for the Creative and Cultural Jobs Stimulus Measure Funding 2020. Closing date for applications : 4pm on Tuesday 25th August 2020

The LEO Louth offers advice, counselling, training, networking and financial support to budding entrepreneurs and existing enterprises in support of the generation of employment and economic growth in County Louth, for the benefit of all its citizens.

The LEO offers an Innovation Voucher initiative, which was developed to build links between Ireland’s public knowledge providers (i.e. higher education institutes, public research bodies) and small businesses.  Innovation Vouchers worth €5,000 are available to assist a company or companies to explore a business opportunity or problem with a registered knowledge provider.

Enterprise Ireland is the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. We work in partnership with Irish enterprises to help them start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets.

Design & Crafts Council Ireland is the national agency for craft and design in Ireland, we support designers and makers to develop their businesses in a sustainable way, and advocate for the societal benefits of craft and design.

This online guide is part of the Irish Government’s Supporting SMEs campaign, to increase awareness of the range of Government supports for start-ups and small businesses.

The Irish Point of Single Contact (PSC) is located in the Internal Market Unit of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The main role of the PSC is to provide general information on the procedures required for Irish/EU Businesses who intend operating in Ireland. (e.g. procedures required for working as an Architect in Ireland).

Welcome to the website of the Small Firms Association, the “Voice of Small Business” in Ireland with over 8000 member companies. We hope that you find the new format valuable in accessing our information resources which are designed to assist you in managing your business.

The National Association of Community Enterprise Centres (NACEC) is a network of 120 community enterprise centres in the Republic of Ireland, formed in 2008, Its primary role is to support and develop the interests of community enterprise centres on a national basis.

Startup Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE) is a tax relief incentive scheme. If you are interested in starting your own company, you may be entitled to an income tax refund of up to 41% of the capital that you invest under SURE.

At the heart of HBAN is a unique all island network of hubs that brings together the largest startup community on the island. These 5 hubs directly support over 1,000 startups and operate or host 30+ programmes. This is further strengthened with strong partnerships right across the ecosystem. We work with everyone. 

Business angel investors are high net worth individuals who provide smaller amounts of finance (typically in the range €50,000/£40,000 to €250,000/£200,000) at an earlier stage than many venture capital funds are able to invest. They are increasingly investing alongside both seed venture capital funds and government agency funding on the island.

There are 150 places available each year and the successful candidates each receive €15,000 and training in areas like business planning, sales and marketing. It’s a very competitive programme, so candidates are asked to make sure they have a sustainable new business idea, that will “trade internationally, create employment and generate revenue”.

A new on-campus centre for commercialisation and innovation at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Origin8 aims to allow industry partners to access the very best and latest in design research. At the same time, it allows on-campus designers and researchers to get access to successful companies that need good designers.

The Regional Skills North East is part of a national programme funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to assess and develop skills for employees within businesses.