Sean MacEntee has a problem. He runs the Regional Development Centre in Dundalk, and due to the success of some of the companies based there they have now ‘graduated’ from the incubator space in the centre. Sean is now looking for startups and established companies to fill the space. As Sean says;
2009 was a significant year for incubation both in the RDC and at Millmount, Drogheda with a total of 7 companies ‘graduating’ from both Centres. We are currently actively recruiting suitable entrepreneurs/start-up companies for both the RDC and Millmount. In addition, we are also interested in speaking to established companies who may wish to set up a separate R&D facility in one of our Centres.
Some of the Enterprise Ireland clients graduating or hosting their R&D facilities at the Regional Development Centre are;
- Armac Systems who specialise in optimisation software for spare parts for the aircraft industry.
- Big Mountain Productions – Film Production company.
- Ergo (Link to Best Connected Client Profile) who host their R&D centre in Dundalk.
- Intact Software who also host their R&D at the centre.
- Redmere – Smart Cables for better connections (more info about Redmere from the RDC blog)
Sean is available at sean-dot-macentee-at-dkit-dot-ie. Of course, there are twelve other incubation centres around the country if you’re looking for a place closer to you. Details are below.
| Centre | Manager | Institute/Location | Phone |
| ArcLabs | Tom Corcoran | Waterford IT | 051-302975 |
| ITSBIC | Janette Gillen | IT Sligo | 071-9155315 |
| Midlands Innovation and Research Centre | Michael Lonergan | Athlone IT | 090-6471882 |
| ICELT | Bertie Kelly | National College of Ireland,Dublin | 01 -4498776 |
| Innovation in Business Centre (Galway) | George McCourt | Galway/Mayo IT,Galway | 091-742822 |
| RDC | Sean MacEntee | Dundalk IT | 042-9370453 |
| Tom Crean Business Centre | Tralee IT | 066-7119669 | |
| Rubicon Centre | Paul Healy | Cork IT | 021-4326223 |
| Learning and Innovation Centre | Assumpta Harvey | IT Blanchardstown ,Dublin | 01-8851186 |
| Enterprise Acceleration Centre | Donncha Hughes | Limerick IT | 061-208208 |
| Business Innovation Centre | Brian Ogilvie | IT Carlow | 059-9170396 |
| Synergy Centre | Nicola Mountford | IT Tallaght ,Dublin | 01-4042000 |
| Digital Media Incubation Centre | Martin Hogan | IADT,Dun Laoire ,Dublin | 01-2144909 |
Would highly recommend any start up on the east coast – pitching to the RDC and milmount.
I went for the facilities but have gained, and my venture has prospered with the assistance offered by the Regional Development Centre . It does exactly what it says on the sign.
It is no surprise to me that so many companies have graduated from the RDC in Dundalk. The supports available in the center are absolutely second to none. Vennetics has found it hugely valuable to work in offices alongside those of other start-up companies who are facing many of the same challenges as us. In the RDC, truly the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and this is largely due to the enterprise nurturing offered by Sean, all the other excellent staff at the RDC and the academics at DkIT. Happily, Vennetics has enjoyed great success over recent years and many of our achievements owe a lot to the RDC.
@John, @Myles,
Glad that you had a good experience with RDC – I passed through it myself in a previous life (it’s since gained a 2 story extension, and a lot more tenants!).
Like Myles, I went for the facilities (at the time broadband was not as widespread, and the RDC has very fast internet , even by today’s standards) The kudos from being about to use the RDC as a postal location also helped.
What I was happily surprised to find the *most* useful was the network of both current and previous companies, and the training sessions that the RDC setup for us.
Paul