Midlands

Property Options
Athlone Business & Technology Park, Garrycastle, Athlone (more information) IDA developed 40 hectare (100 acres) Business & Technology Park with broadband telecommunications network, on site childcare facility, new office & production buildings and Greenfield site options available.

Athlone, Tullamore and Mullingar have been designated a linked ‘Gateway’ in the National Spatial Strategy. This builds on their strategic, central location in Ireland and as a principal urban centre for the Midlands Region. This Gateway will act as a focus for economic development in the Midlands in the future. Strong Gateways are drivers of growth in their wider Regions and their impact will be felt not only in the Gateway towns themselves but in the surrounding towns, villages and rural areas.

Athlone has an urban population of 17,544, rising to 338,369 within a 60 Km radius. Athlone is connected by motorway to Dublin, at a distance of 115 km (70 miles) to Dublin Airport, and is on the Dublin-Galway Intercity train route with regular daily services to and from Dublin.

In addition to a range of schooling options, Athlone is home to the Athlone Institute of Technology, the Midlands Region’s third level college with a student population of 6,000 (full and part time) producing c. 1,800 graduates per annum. Athlone is also home to the regional office of FAS (The National Training Agency) – with an output of c.3,000 trainees per annum.

Multinational companies operating in Athlone include: Ericsson (telecommunications software), Alkermes (pharmaceutical); Covidien (medical products); KCI (medical products); Teleflex (European HQ); AXA Assistance (24 hour customer support centre), Georgia Tech Ireland (Research Centre), The NPD Group (Global IT and Operations Centre) and American Medical Systems (medical products).

Athlone is located on the River Shannon and Lough Ree. Leisure activities include water sports, horse riding and racing, hunting, tennis, rugby, soccer and Gaelic football. A variety of gyms/leisure centres and a spa are all available in the town. The Dean Crowe Memorial Hall, home to the All Ireland Drama Festival is located in Athlone. There are a number of quality restaurants and hotels with conference facilities in the town also. Athlone presents excellent residential options including top end corporate housing to apartments and starter homes for both sale and rent.

Property Options

Mullingar has a wide range of quality property options for inward investors providing a range of Greenfield developed site options plus office and production facilities buildings. IDA’s Business & Technology Park , Ardmore (under construction)

Mullingar, Athlone and Tullamore have been designated a linked ‘Gateway’ in the National Spatial Strategy. This builds on their strategic, central location in Ireland and as a principal urban centre for the Midlands Region. This Gateway will act as a focus for economic development in the Midlands in the future. Strong Gateways are drivers of growth in their wider Regions and their impact will be felt not only in the Gateway towns themselves but in the surrounding towns, villages and rural areas.

Mullingar has an urban population of 18,416, rising to 593,330 within a 60 Km radius. Mullingar is connected by motorway to Dublin, at a distance of 74 km (48 miles) to Dublin Airport, and is on the Dublin-Sligo Intercity train route with regular daily services to and from Dublin.

Mullingar has a wide range of primary and secondary (high school) options and also is home to both the Mullingar General Hospital & St Francis Private Hospital.

In addition to its base of Irish owned companies, Mullingar is a proven location for overseas companies across a number of sectors. The towns manufacturing base of overseas companies includes Taconic International (teflon coated fabrics), Oakley Optical Ireland (prescription eyewear) and Patterson Pumps (fire pumps).

Numerous lakes surround Mullingar which in addition to providing ideal locations for anglers, are suitable for water sports, with windsurfing, sub-aqua, sailing facilities and clubs all very active. There are also a number of smaller lakes situated within 10 km of the town, which have excellent course and trout fishing. Greyhound racing is a great attraction in Mullingar. The historic Belvedere House and Gardens on the shores of Lough Ennell, just 5 km (4 miles) from Mullingar is there to be enjoyed. The town has an 18-hole championship golf course and hosts the annual Internationally-renowned Mullingar Scratch Cup. Mullingar is well catered for by excellent Hotels & Country Houses.

Property Options
IDA’s Business & Technology Park , Srah, Tullamore.This 40 Hectare (100 acre) Park provides the full range of property options for multinational companies. The Park has all the utility infrastructure requirements in place including a broadband telecommunications network & on site childcare facilities.

Tullamore, Athlone and Mullingar have been designated a linked ‘Gateway’ in the National Spatial Strategy. This builds on their strategic, central location in Ireland and as a principal urban centre for the Midlands Region. This Gateway will act as a focus for economic development in the Midlands in the future. Strong Gateways are drivers of growth in their wider Regions and their impact will be felt not only in the Gateway towns themselves but in the surrounding towns, villages and rural areas.

Tullamore has an urban population of 12,927, rising to 484,478 within a 60 Km radius. Tullamore is located at a distance of 102 km (64 miles) to Dublin Airport, and has regular daily train services to and from Dublin.

It is situated on the Tullamore Silver River. The Grand Canal, historically the transport system that linked the town to Dublin, flows through Tullamore and is an attractive amenity for tourists and boating enthusiast. The canal is linked to the River Shannon.

The town functions as an important business centre involving manufacturing and services, as well as a social centre for an extensive area of North Offaly. Overseas companies with significant operations in Tullamore include Covidien (medical devices), Sennheiser Ireland (Sound Systems and Centre of Excellence for Acoustic Transducer Technology), Isotron Ireland (ETO sterilisation), Integra LifeSciences (surgical instruments), GeneMedix (biogeneric pharmaceutical products), Freund Pharmatec (Pharma equipment) and Kelcourt Plastics (medical tubing).

Tullamore has extensive schooling options and is the Administrative Headquarters of the Midlands Health Services Executive and is home to the new state of the art, 300 bed Midland Regional Hospital. The existing hospital was upgraded at a total project cost of €150 million and facilities at the new hospital include: additional inpatient acute beds and day beds, including Orthopedics; new Oncology unit; new Renal Dialysis unit and new Operating Department with a total of 6 operating theatres and 12 recovery beds. Improved facilities also include new A&E Department with 5 new major treatment rooms and a major resuscitation area.

Tullamore is a major sporting town with Athletics, GAA, Rugby, Soccer, Tennis, Rowing and Swimming clubs. Other activities catered for include fishing, boating, mountaineering, horse trekking and hunting. Indoor activities include Gyms, sports complex, drama/musical society, badminton and squash. The town has a choice of quality hotels with conference facilities, restaurants and choice of golf courses.

Property Options
IDA's Business & Technology Park , Mountrath Road, Portlaoise. Greenfield site options and a new 17,000 sq ft Office building are available on this 27 hectare (66 acre) Park with the necessary utility and telecommunications infrastructure in place.

Portlaoise, with its population of 14,613, rising to 531,984 within a 60 km (37.5 mile) radius is the principal town and administrative centre of County Laois.

Portlaoise is connected to Dublin via motorway, at a distance of 85 km (53 miles) from Dublin Airport and is strategically located at the junction of the Dublin / Cork (N8) and Dublin / Limerick (N7) National Primary Routes. Portlaoise is also located on the main Dublin / Cork and Dublin / Limerick rail lines and has regular daily services to and from Dublin.

Dublin is one hour away by rail and the M7 motorway affords fast, easy connections to the Capital and Dublin Airport.

Overseas companies in County Laois include DIS Enbi Seals Ltd (rubber sealing products) and Standex International (pumps for vending machines).

Portlaoise and the surrounding area has excellent golfing including the Seve Ballesteros designed Heritage Golf & Country Club Championship course. Quad-biking and point-to-point facilities are available in nearby Stradbally, which is also home to The Electric Picnic. The Curragh Race Course is less than 30 minutes away. Portlaoise has a well-established Equestrian Centre. The Rivers Barrow and Nore provide good sport for the angler. Dunamaise Arts Centre, with a 240 seat theatre, two exhibition galleries, workshop space and café, encourages and promotes arts activities in the Region. Portlaoise also has fitness centres, tennis, squash and a bowling alley as well as many attractive shops and numerous bars, restaurants and hotel facilities.

Property Options
IDA Ireland and the Local Authority have a number of developed property and site solutions available to offer overseas clients.

Longford town is the administrative centre of County Longford, with a population of 8,836, rising to 300,000 within a 60 km (37.5 mile) radius. The town is strategically located 120 Km (75 miles) from Dublin on the N4 National Route, the main road between Dublin and Sligo. Longford is also located on the Dublin - Sligo railway line.

Investment by overseas companies in Longford includes Abbott Diagnostics (diagnostic reagent products), Cameron Ireland (valves for oil wells) and Epicor Software Corporation (CD-based inventory management systems for the automotive industry).

Longford is an active sporting town with GAA, Soccer & Rugby clubs, a Golf Course, new Sports & Leisure complex in Templemichael, Tennis, Badminton and Squash clubs and an indoor swimming pool. Abbeyshrule Flying Club offers flying lessons and Lough Ree Sub Aqua Club if you wish to train in search and rescue. For horse lovers the Augherea Equestrian Centre is the place to be.

Longford has two theatre groups, the Backstage Theatre & Arts Centre with a modern 200 seat theatre incorporating art gallery and coffee dock and the Bog Lane Theatre, an intimate 80 seat theatre situated in Ballymahon.

Property Options
IDA’s Business Park , Racecourse Road, Roscommon provides property solutions for overseas clients with the necessary utility infrastructure in place including broadband connectivity.

Roscommon town, with its population of almost 5,000, rising to 294,732 within a 60 km (37.5 mile) radius, is the principal town and administrative centre of Co Roscommon and is situated at the junction of the Dublin/Castlebar (N60) arterial road. It is 156 kms (97 miles) from Dublin.
Roscommon is located on the main Dublin/Westport rail line and is served by regular daily connections to and from Dublin.

Overseas companies operating in the town and county include,  Innocoll Technologies (R&D and manufacturing centre), Athlone Pharmaceuticals (medical products), Harmac Medical (medical device sub-contractor) based in Castlerea and  Alkermes (pharmaceutical products) based in Athlone.

County Roscommon is home to many historical sites including the Cruachan Aí Visitor Centre in Tulsk (preserved Celtic Royal Site), Strokestown Park House a restored 19th century mansion, famine museum and walled garden.

July in Ballaghaderreen sees the Dr Douglas Hyde Summer School of Traditional Irish Music and Dance.

Sport is well catered for in Roscommon Golf Club, an 18 hole championship course; Roscommon Horse Races steeped in National Hunt tradition; anglers can enjoy coarse, trout and pike angling; cruising; walking tours; indoor gym; swimming; football and soccer. The town clubs include bridge and a musical and drama society. The town has many attractive shops, numerous bars with live music and restaurants.