Ludgate Hub

The Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, Co. Cork is located in the periphery of the South West of Ireland, With a connection the Ludgate Hub utilizes the digital age for job creation and innovation. The initiative aims facilitate up to 75 people in a creative co-working environment with a long term objective to create 500 direct jobs and indirect jobs via a sustainable digital economy for Skibbereen and the wider West Cork area. As featured in the case study in the Action Plan for Jobs, South West (2015 – 2017) the Ludgate Hub is cited as an example of innovation occurring in rural Ireland and indeed a blue print for other rural areas. Skibbereen has also been selected as a pilot town for SIRO, and 1GB of connectivity is now rolled out to the Ludgate Hub and town of Skibbereen creating a 1GB community. To date significant private investment has been committed to the construction of the Ludgate Hub, with a board of eleven operating on a pro-bono basis. The board has vocally pushed for acceleration of Skibbereen and West Corks digitisation. Digitisation of rural Ireland is akin to the electrification of Ireland, the influence of the digital economy will be the driving force in balancing the rural economic environment. The Hub which was once a cinema from 1941-1981, then a bakery to the mid 00s was then left unoccupied. Board member John Field made the Bakery Building available towards the initiative, the hub which is in the centre of Skibbereen town is now a beacon of innovation and has already started to encourage fringe enterprises as a spin off. The Ludgate Board is determined to achieve all ambitious goals, ultimately resulting in a return of the diaspora, creating an ecosystem of creativity and innovation, and progressing the facilitation of job growth via digital technology. The long term vision is to make Skibbereen a hotspot for technology start-ups and multinationals to locate and prosper at a global level.