$140m in box office takings for Irish films
This week the Irish Film Board published its strategy for the next five years, following a year of unprecedented critical and commercial success for Irish film and animation, with international global recognition at award ceremonies across the globe as well as record breaking box office takings.
On the back of major global hits including Room, Brooklyn, Sing Street, Love & Friendship, Song of the Sea and The Lobster, Irish films have, to date, taken an impressive $140 million at the worldwide box office alone in 2015/16, with audience figures estimated in the region of 18 million admissions. This does not include DVD, TV or the growing VOD market which will generate further audiences for Irish film.
The wider audiovisual sector employs some 6,000 people in Ireland at present, generating over €0.5 billion to the economy.
It also follows recent improvements to the Irish tax incentive Section 481 - Film Tax Credit - which increased by €20 million to €70 million earlier this year.
Read the Irish Film Board's five-year strategic plan - ‘Building on Success'.
Up to 140,000 jobs could be created if Ireland seizes opportunities in digital economy
At a roundtable event on digitizing Ireland hosted by Google this week, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) presented research estimating that up to 140,000 jobs could be created in the Irish economy over the next four years and annual GDP growth almost doubled, if Ireland seizes emerging opportunities in digital. The research is an extension to an earlier piece of work on Digitizing Europe, which identified Ireland as one of Europe’s ‘Digital Frontrunners.’
Commenting on the research findings, Minister for European Affairs, Data Protection & the EU Single Digial Market Dara Murphy said: “Ireland is in the vanguard of European countries pushing for an ambitious Digital Single Market. A fully-functioning, open and competitive Digital Single Market will be a win-win for consumers and SMEs across Europe. For Ireland, it will allow us to unlock our full potential as a ‘Digital Frontrunner’ as our economy and society embrace ever-greater digitisation.”
21% increase in new companies in first half of 2016
About 10,500 new companies were formed in the first half of 2016, up 21% on the same period last year, according to new figures from business and credit risk analysis company Vision-net.ie. Wexford, Cork and Donegal were the counties with the highest increase in startups when compared with the first half of 2015.
One in five new companies were in the the professional services sector, making it the most popular sector for startups so far in 2016. Financial services experienced the greatest increase in startups when compared with the same period last year, increasing by 866 to 1,337 startups. The agriculture and real estate sectors both suffered a fall in startups when compared with last year.
The number of insolvencies in the first half of the year fell by 12%, when compared to the same period last year.
Looking for help getting export ready?
InterTradeIreland, in partnership with the National Export Hub, is looking for approximately 20 businesses from across the island to participate in a new Export Readiness Programme called ‘Explore Export’.
The aim of the programme is to ensure that a business has the required organisational structure, culture and resources to support growth and entry into new export markets.
For further information on the programme, including eligibility criteria and details on how to apply, get in touch with Sinead Branigan at the Irish Exporters Association at sineadbranigan@irishexporters.ie or telephone +353 (0)1 6612182.