ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021
COLLABORATION AND COOPERATION pickup in activity around the terminal buildings. As a small open economy, celebrated for the ‘Céad Míle Fáilte’ or ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’ of our people, it is incredibly important for Fingal, and indeed the whole of island’s tourism sector, that we increase the number of visitors we welcome here in a safe manner.
Welcome back to the second edition of the Fingal Network Magazine where we cover a range of business supports, showcase the diverse businesses and industries in Fingal, and highlight interesting economic activity taking place across the region. The feedback we received following the first edition was really positive, so I would like to congratulate the team on their efforts in launching this new publication.
FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE
The pandemic and its consequences are still very much with us. Confirmation by Government that it will extend key COVID supports for businesses and employees impacted by the pandemic has been needed and will come as a relief to those who continue to experience significant uncertainty.
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In the previous edition I spoke about the importance of resilience and working together as a community to make the most of opportunities available. I feel that now we are moving on, and thought I would concentrate on the positive indicators we are seeing, on collaboration to support business, and our community involvement. Thankfully the summer months have brought a slightly brighter future for many of the people and businesses most affected by the pandemic. The recent resumption of indoor dining is another big milestone as society and the economy adapts to living with Covid-19. Following what felt like never-ending setbacks, the return comes at a crucial time for businesses as they do their best to get up and running to make the most of the end of the summer. The Chamber has had a particular focus on supporting the hospitality and tourism industries and you can read the roundtable discussion feature with some of our members in this edition. As someone who works in the Maldron Hotel on the Dublin Airport Campus, it is fantastic to see the recent
In 2019, Dublin Airport was setting passenger record numbers month after month. The sooner we can get incoming tourist numbers back up the better it will be for everyone in the affected industries, from aviation to hospitality and related services. Fingal Chamber is part of a collaborative group called The Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance which comprises four of Ireland’s foremost Chambers, Fingal Chamber, South Dublin Chamber, County Kildare Chamber and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Chamber.
The Fingal Chamber Community Fund is targeted at supporting communities on developing initiatives in a variety of categories such as environmental and sustainability, health and wellbeing, and social inclusion and community development.
Over the summer the Greater Dublin Chamber Alliance agreed a new strategic partnership with Adare Human Resource Management to provide expert advice and guidance to support members with the safe return to the workplace.
Financed by supporters and contributions from the Chamber itself, the fund is set up to award small grants of between €1,000 and €5,000 yearly.
During the summer, the Chamber Chief Executive and I took a trip to the wonderful Skerries Mills tourist attraction to meet with the newly elected Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó’Rodaigh. Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, represents the Balbriggan Local Electoral Area, and was first elected as a councillor in 2019, and is based in Skerries, where she works as a teacher. The Mayor of Fingal shared her vision for her time in the role and discussed some of her keen areas of interest such as mental health services and the arts. Cllr Ó Rodaigh expressed how she wants to ensure that we re-emerge from the lockdown as a better, more inclusive society and hopes the community spirit witnessed over the past 16 months will carry on. Cllr Ó Rodaigh also noted some of the recent positive changes such as remote working and new microenterprises with a local community focus.
WHAT WILL THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ REALLY LOOK LIKE?
We briefed the Mayor on the recent collaboration projects between the Chamber and the Local Authority, and also offered assistance, where appropriate, to Cllr Ó Rodaigh during her tenure. We also engaged with the Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development with special responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD for a special online event to announce over €15,000 in grants to community-led projects and activities under the new Fingal Chamber Community Fund.
We’ve seen in recent weeks how fluid the current situation is, and the impact Government decisions are having on businesses. Employers are faced with so many challenges, including ensuring the future viability of their business and knowing that members have expert HR, employment law and health and safety advice available to them will provide support when they need it most.
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT:
Despite being in its first year, the Fingal Chamber Community Fund was heavily oversubscribed, receiving over 120 submissions collectively requesting more than €365,000. The Chamber received applications from voluntary community groups, established clubs, local charities, and residents’ associations from local communities, amongst other organisations. A total of 11 grants have been paid out to fund activities including a coaching cultural awareness project, a girls’ football academy, a gender diversity programme for local radio, ambulance equipment, and a youth employability programme. We recently received the outcome reports on these projects and the impact they have made in our communities has been fantastic. I urge any business who would like to get involved in supporting this work, to please contact us to see how we can make an even greater impact together. For more information, please visit www.fingalchamber.ie/community As the Chamber has been active in collaborating with key partners and supporting community group with their commendable work, I believe this collaborative and cooperative is important approach going forward, not only for the Chamber, but for all businesses.
Andrea Molloy President
But with high levels of vaccination, the end of the pandemic is drawing ever closer and businesses are going to have make medium and longer-term decisions about their operations. It is becoming clearer by the day, for example, that for many people and for all sorts of a reasons, a “normal” five-day week will become a distant memory. Some will face redundancy and that is an unfortunate reality to be faced up to as business and employment supports are withdrawn over time.
With the benefit of hindsight we can now see that, in relative terms, “lockdown” was the easy part of the pandemic. Against the background of huge fear and uncertainty about the future in March 2020 we had little difficulty embracing the notion that “we’re all in this together”. Indeed, it has been that sense of community and mutual support which has helped us get through this difficult period. Now, however, we have reached a point of significant change. Trying to return to normality, both in business and in our personal lives, represents both huge challenges and huge opportunities. One of the difficulties for businesses is to identify what the “new normal” will look like and what changes to their strategies and day-to-day operational activities will be required to meet these needs. As both Grace O’Shaughnessy and Jock Jordan note in this issue, their companies have survived and even managed to thrive during lockdown by focussing on the immediate tasks to ensure continued viability. As Grace puts it: “We called each month as it came, making decisions relative to the business needs at that time based on the data and information to hand. That gave us a sense of small, bite-sized chunks we could deal with.”
Many people will continue to work from home (WFH), as they have done for the past 18 months and, while this will suit some, it may not suit others. The social aspect of the workplace, the sense of collegiality and purpose it generates and the creativity that is so often sparked through being beside people in the same space are all aspects that are impossible to replace. That said, having fewer colleagues to work with is likely to result in more work being thrust on the shoulders of those who are there. It will also be interesting to see how extensively a “hybrid” approach is adopted by those businesses for which it can work and what that does in terms of cost structures. And for those business with employees WFH overseas – which somewhat paradoxically includes Northern Ireland post-Brexit – there are still complex income tax and social welfare issues that need to be sorted out. So coming out of COVID-19 businesses will have to adapt and change the way they do things or they will find it difficult to survive. Furthermore, they will have to adapt to the new world very quickly. They can expect customers to be at least as demanding as they were before, if not actually more so. In this new environment networking “person-toperson” is going to be more important than ever. Following the long period of enforced separation and having spent so much time using technology as a means of communicating, I know that business people will want to engage more than ever “personto-person” with existing /prospective clients and business partners. That is one thing that has not changed in all this: People want to do business with people they know, they like and they trust. Systems do “transactional business’ but it is people who make business really happen. So for anyone engaged in B2B activity, the old-reliable
of meeting face-to-face will be the “new approach” to doing business! Here at Fingal Chamber we have a comprehensive series of “In Person” events planned for Q4 and beyond ( subject, of course, to Government restrictions allowing, which I am optimistic they will) to help pave the way. I’m delighted to say that at Fingal Chamber we are here, ready to help our members thrive and prosper in this brave new world. Our resumed “live” networking events will be important in this. We know, too, that many staff will have to be retrained, re-skilled and upskilled and we are ready and willing to play an active part in this through our Fingal Chamber Skillnet. We will also provide support through our continued advocacy with local and national government around issues that are important to the continued well-being of our members. In relation to local government, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Fingal County Council on what they have achieved over the past 18 months. They have played what might be termed the “proverbial blinder” in the way they have managed to continue to provide their current suite of services. They have also played a highly pro-active role in ensuring, to the best of their ability, that our region’s tourism & hospitality businesses have been able to trade throughout this time. And last, but not least, I congratulate them on the level of supports they have provided and the speed at which they applied them on behalf of central government. In conclusion I would simply point out that as we come out of lockdown and prepare for what comes next, the potential value of membership of Fingal Chamber to our members is arguably greater than it has ever been in our history. Sticking together, supporting each other, makes us 100 times stronger.
Anthony Cooney Chief Executive
FINGAL CHAMBER - NETWORK MAGAZINE
WELCOME ADDRESS:
ISSUE 2 - AUGUST 2021
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