The Killybegs Marine Cluster is delighted to become premium partner members of the invaluable resource that is the Causeway Exchange. This network is aligned and supporting our international ambitions for our members, particularly in Scotland and is also helping to raise the profile of Killybegs port domestically and internationally. Killybegs port is one of six fishery harbour centres on the island of Ireland which is owned, managed and maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM). Minister Charlie McConalogue, a TD from County Donegal is the existing Minister for the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine. Killybegs is home to the National Pelagic Fishing Fleet, of which there are currently 23 Marine Fishing Vessels (MFV) and 20 of these call Killybegs their home port with the other three vessels landing their catch in Killybegs. Killybegs port is geographically located on the edge of Europe in the Northwest of Ireland which provides easy access to both the highest offshore wind speeds and richest fishing ground in Europe. The base industry is commercial fishing (pelagic) which has helped stimulate several other ancillary blue economy industries such as fish processing, marine engineering, renewable energy, offshore marine services, aquaculture, and marine tourism.
Background
Killybegs Maine Cluster is Irelands’ only dedicated blue economy marine cluster. The Killybegs Marine Cluster is one of twelve clusters on the Island of Ireland which is part of Enterprise Ireland’s National Cluster Programme. We are funded and supported by Enterprise Ireland under the Regional Technology Cluster Fund (RTCF). The Killybegs Marine Cluster operated within a quadruple helix framework which consists of a blend of industry, academia, government and community support. The core objectives of the Killybegs Marine Cluster include:
- Internationalisation
- Fostering Talent & Skills
- Research, Development & Innovation
- Developing the cluster ecosystem
Sustainability
Killybegs Marine Cluster, together with our industry and stakeholders are embarking on an ambitious sustainability charter for our ecosystem. This charter is co-created with both industry and our wider stakeholders, which include, Enterprise Ireland, DAFM, BIM, Donegal County Council, Donegal LEO, Donegal ETB and ATU as we move towards a net zero fishing port.
Future-proofing our ecosystem
Working within one of our strategic pillars, Internationalisation, Killybegs Marine Cluster is committed to supporting our members to achieve their international ambitions. We work closely with our members to support international trade fairs/conferences, routes to market, networking, international introductions, etc.
A recent example of Internationalisation is a newly formed partnership between a Killybegs Marine Cluster member MMG Ocean and a Scottish (Shetland) company Ocean Kinetics. This partnership was formed after completing a co-innovate programme which was supported via an EU Interreg programme which also included a third party, StorTera, another Scottish (Edinburgh) based company. Following the success of this co-innovate programme, MMG Ocean, formerly MMG Welding and Ocean Kinetics formed an official partnership. You can learn more about this partnership by clicking here.
Another one of our member companies, Killybegs Electrical Refrigeration (KER Group) are providing novel turnkey solutions for the growing Aquaculture sector. KER Group’s origins commenced as service provider to the national commercial fishing fleet in Killybegs. Over the years the business has grown from strength to strength with the introduction of their own product solutions. KER Group specialise in refrigeration having worked on Norwegian technologies for the past 3 decades. Following the negative impact of Brexit on the Irish fishing industry, KER Group have pivoted their expertise into the growing Aquaculture sector. A recent example of their transition was KER Group providing Scottish Sea Farms with innovative turnkey refrigeration solutions for their salmon production facilities. To learn more about this solution, please click here.
The Killlybegs Marine Cluster would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the entire team in Causeway for their very warm welcome as new members of Causeway Exchange and we look forward to developing our relationship with Scotland.