Here’s the video of Minister Sean Sherlock’s speech at the official opening of our new data centre on Monday. We have more on the way!
The Minister drew a comparison between Carlow and his native Mallow. The towns share a similar history as the sites of Ireland’s last two sugar factories; “traditional towns that sustained thousands of jobs with a rural hinterland”. Describing Blacknight’s new facilities as “state of the art”, he said it was an absolute testament to the people of the region and to the vision of the company’s founders and their team.
Describing companies such as Blacknight as “the new indigenous industry”, Mr Sherlock said it had been an education to him to see what they had achieved, in a regional location, with almost no state support, using local resources, skills, suppliers and investors.
“I have a strong sense that we need to disrupt the current thinking in this country, that says that most foreign direct investment has to come in to the larger urban centres where there is a perception that the skills pools exist in those centres, when clearly, what Blacknight shows is that there is a massive talent pool in this region and that in towns like Mallow and Carlow, there is a reinvention or a renaissance, if you will, going on, where local people are coming together and committing to create jobs in their own regions, drawing from an excellent skillset. That’s something that is an important takeaway for myself as a minister for research and innovation.”
