Vice-president of the European parliament opens Mullingar expo
As our economy nears full employment with unemployment down to 5.6pc in February and a record 2,281,300 people at work in the state, increasingly quality of life issues are, rightly, to the fore, Mairead McGuinness MEP for Westmeath and first vice-president of the European Parliament said in her opening address to the Mullingar Chamber Careers Expo on Saturday (March 23).
“Since 2016, three out of every five new jobs have been created outside of Dublin,” she said.
“These are important and welcome developments and the policy of regional and local development behind them must continue apace.”
The Mullingar Career Expo had more than 40 companies operating in the greater midlands region and all are looking for staff, the MEP said.
“The range of businesses at the expo was huge and reflected the reality that highly skilled job opportunities exist outside Dublin and other large centres.
“These companies offer excellent long term career opportunities and are hoping to attract people commuting from the region to apply for jobs which would see them living closer to their workplaces and reducing the very difficult long commute which is hard on individuals and families.”
She said Mullingar Chamber of Commerce is to be commended for the expo which attracted huge crowds throughout the day.
The range of businesses represented included everything from manufacturing, retail, service industries and professions.
“Speaking to the companies looking to take on staff a key positive message from them about the region included the availability of schools and other services in the region.
“A key focus of the government is to ensure that we have strong regions and the expo demonstrated the strength there is in the midlands.
“Opportunities exist outside of Dublin and it is important that there is awareness of these opportunities,” she said.
Ms McGuinness said it was great to meet the business community and hear about their plans for the future in the midlands.
“It’s possible to serve a global market place from the midlands as these businesses demonstrated and this gives rise to opportunities for people seeking a good work life balance.”
She said while Brexit is a key issue overshadowing the economy, there was no pessimism at the expo, only a desire to get on with business planning to secure a long term future.