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Are entrepreneurs the answer to Ireland’s economic growth?
PhD researcher Leigh Moran is investigating how entrepreneurial support could transform local economies.
Galway is one of Europe’s most important MedTech hubs, employing 15,000 people in multinational companies such as Medtronic, and Boston Scientific, alongside indigenous innovators like Aerogen, which exports to more than 80 countries.
Ireland itself exports over €16 billion in MedTech products annually. Yet the economic benefits remain uneven.
Border counties, including Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, and Monaghan, remain below the EU average in GDP per capita.
“The North and Western region’s GDP per capita fell by 0.4% compared to the national average increasing by 5.5% in 2024”, explains PhD researcher, Leigh Moran, “indicating it is failing to maintain the economic growth rate evident in other Irish NUTS 2 regions”.
The Northern and Western Region has recently been reclassified by the European Commission as a “More Developed Region”, but that upgrade comes with reduced EU funding.
Economist John Daly of the Northern & Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) outlines the implications in his interview with the Irish Independent:
“This means, for instance, that if a €100m project is taking place in Donegal, it would receive €40m instead of €60m from the EU—and the Government would have to fund the gap”.
Additionally, investment in non-R&D innovation expenditure lags significantly behind both national and EU averages.
For Leigh, this gap sits at the centre of his research:
“While showing signs of promise, these trends are surprising given the significant entrepreneurial potential of the region and the wealth of entrepreneurial actors present.”
He explains how the Northern and Western region hosts a thriving innovation ecosystem filled with multinational companies, universities, incubators and start-ups.
What is missing?
“If the potential of the Northern and Western Region’s MedTech sector is to be fully realised then understanding of how regional factors supporting entrepreneurship may be governed becomes a pertinent area of research”, he shares.
But sustainable regional growth will require stronger governance, deeper collaboration, and better support for entrepreneurs.
Speaking on the IDEAS Podcast, Leigh points to Estonia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as a successful case study:
Estonia boasts the highest number of startups per capita within the EU.
Part of the success can be attributed to their e-Residency program that allows entrepreneurs to run a digital startup within the EU from anywhere in the world. But realising that potential for Ireland will require a deep dive into how entrepreneurial ecosystems function and how policy can support them.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the European Union’s Europe 2020 strategy placed increasing emphasis on developing Smart Specialisation Strategies, which support regions in developing sectors where they have competitive advantages.
The Northern and Western Region’s MedTech sector represents one such strength, as highlighted in the Irish national Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation 2022-2027.
Watch Leigh Moran explore why shared economy values matter, Estonia’s e-Residency program, the cautionary examples of Uber and Airbnb in the IDEAS Podcast series.
Can Ireland enhance its entrepreneurial ecosystem?
The Irish entrepreneurial ecosystem is currently being fed by the collaboration between start-ups, industry partners, and research institutions.
Strong employment growth, supported by major institutions, such as Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and Enterprise Ireland, has helped drive regional performance.
For Majella Maher, Regional Manager of the West Regions Team at Enterprise Ireland, such supports are “key enablers for Medtech entrepreneurs and SMEs.”
She explains how through initiatives like the BioInnovate fellowship programme, the MedLink Cluster, the Technology Gateways, and the Healthcare Innovation hub, provides the region with a collaborative ecosystem:
Enterprise Ireland through these and other initiatives and programmes works collaboratively with a range of stakeholders in the region to provide an ecosystem which drives and supports entrepreneurship and the development of future focussed Medtech Start-ups.
FastFlow Medical, a Galway-based MedTech start-up, partnered with the MET Technology Gateway to advance their neuro thrombectomy device. This implant is designed to remove dangerous blood clots from brain arteries and potentially prevent strokes or reduce their severity.
Nicola Bohan, co-founder of FastFlow Medical, highlighted how access to this device supported their work:
“MET’s specialised imaging lab broke a critical bottleneck by providing the high-resolution, real-time visualisation necessary to observe our neuro thrombectomy device”.
Ireland’s MedTech sector shows what is possible when innovation and industry connect at scale. The challenge now is ensuring that this success is more evenly felt across regions.
ATU Podcast is available to stream from Spotify and YouTube.
This research is funded under RISE@ATU with supervision by Dr Gabriela Gliga. RISE@ATU is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Northern and Western Regional Programme 2021-27.
About Leigh Moran
Leigh Moran is a PhD researcher as part of the IDEAS Postgraduate Research Training Programme in ATU Galway. His research investigates how governance, sustainability and the intersection between these domains, may enhance the development of entrepreneurial start-ups and supporting organisations in the North and Western regions of Ireland, particularly social and economic sustainability. Despite the promising entrepreneurial landscape, the Northern and Western region falls behind the rest of Ireland regarding economic performance and innovation capabilities, highlighting the importance of ecosystem leadership in shaping a sustainable future for the entrepreneurial community.
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Featured Image: Leigh Moran, PhD researcher at Atlantic Technological University.
