Business
People in Business – Mike O’Flynn, Vice President, Boston Scientific, Galway
In some ways Mike O’Flynn’s business life has come full circle. Mike is Vice President at Boston Scientific’s Galway facility in Ballybrit, in the same building/location in which he started his working life with Digital as a graduate in 1985.
‘It was funny to find myself in familiar but strange surroundings when I came back to Ballybrit to join Boston Scientific in 2005, 20 years after I first started here,’ he says.
‘It was an interesting but largely unplanned journey on the way.
Mike left Digital in 1993 just as hardware manufacturing was closing in Galway – to be replaced by Boston Scientific the following year.
He joined Northern Telecom as a project manager before moving on to MSL in Athlone a couple of years later and ending up in Shannon with a start-up multi-national called Bay Networks by 1997.
‘That was one of the big decisions in my business life,’ says Mike.
‘There was a risk joining a relatively unknown company – I was employee number three – and I also had to relocate my family from Galway to Limerick.
In one of those curious circles within a circle, Bay Networks was acquired by Nortel in 1998 and Mike moved back to Galway later that year.
‘The Nortel I re-joined after three years was quite different to the one I left in 1995,’ says Mike.
‘It had grown to almost 1,000 staff with a significant R&D capability as well as manufacturing, distribution and customer service.
‘It was a very professional company and in my seven years there I learned an awful lot.
‘I acquired leadership skills, worked overseas and undertook a variety of roles. It rounded me out as a business leader.
By 2001 Mike was VP of Operations in Nortel Galway just as the telecoms industry bubble was bursting.
Within a year Mike was faced with the challenge of shutting down manufacturing operations in Galway – another echo of the past, this time his Digital experience.
‘This was most difficult thing I had to do in business,’ he says.
He relocated to Ottawa for a year and returned to Galway as VP of European Operations in 2004.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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