Enterprise in Offaly

There are over 1,200 businesses based in Offaly. The industrial base continues to expand rapidly and hundreds of new companies have been established in recent years.


Offaly has shown its ability to attract leading-edge, high-value investments across a range of sectors and to provide the calibre of people and supporting infrastructure. A number of high-profile multinational companies with headquarters in the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Italy, such as Sennheiser (audio equipment) and Zannini (packaging) have established operations in Offaly.


There is a growing health care industry cluster that includes multinationals Tyco Healthcare and Boston Scientific (medical devices), Isotron (medical devices sterilisation) and GeneMedix (biotech and pharmaceuticals), as well as local companies such as SteriPack Medical that services the medical industry worldwide from its base in Clara and Midland Bandages in Tullamore.


Offaly has also seen the emergence of a vibrant base of successful locally-owned companies, many of them trading internationally. Among them are Grant Engineering, Ireland’s leading home heating boiler manufacturer, Banagher Concrete, one of Ireland’s top structural engineering companies, Silverline Cruisers, Associated Plastics of Ireland, Carroll Cuisine, producers of quality foods, Glenisk Organics, an award winning organic dairy, and Flanagan Group, an innovative and progressive construction company.


According to Mary Smyth of Silverline Cruisers in Banagher, "We play a major role in tourism in the region. No matter what our strategy is, we can depend on local agencies to enhance that strategy by providing the appropriate support mechanisms. In many cases, it is this support that has made the difference for our company’s development. It is this type of proactive flexible support that I can call on that gives me real confidence in Offaly as a quality business location."

Offaly is part of the Border, Midlands and Western (BMW) Region, an Objective 1 region, which means, among other things that development agencies can provide higher levels of financial support than for other parts of the country.

Offaly, as part of the BMW region, is set to continue to be eligible to secure new EU investment from the Structural Funds 2007-13 under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective.


A further boost to enterprise has been provided by the unique ESB Enterprise Fund, which is providing some €6 million to assist in enhancing economic and enterprise development in the West & North Offaly areas.