#ConnectedHubsVisitCoWorkLand – Cork

My latest tour took me to County Cork, specifically to the second – or as the good people of Cork naturally say—the actual capital, Cork City. A little anecdote: The German football legend Uwe Seeler played a match here in the 1977-78 season, for Cork Celtic.

My first stop in Cork was Culture Coworking – https://connectedhubs.ie/hubs/profile/103 – Andrew Whitaker runs two coworking spaces under this name: Culture Marina and Culture City. Andrew started with the Marina location seven years ago. About two years ago, his business partner approached him about a historic grain warehouse dating back to 1842 that needed a new lease on life. In roughly 18 months, Culture City was created, and much of its history has been preserved across three floors, such as the impressive beams that seem to float above you.

The coworkers represent a diverse mix of industries, including a German-Irish-New Zealand AgriTech company. Andrew, who is incredibly well-connected in Cork City and County, doesn’t want to stop there, but he’s looking beyond that when it comes to connections to Germany in general and to CoWorkLand and its ecosystem in particular. Networking is essential and personal for him. After Brexit and with Trump, it’s especially important for small and medium-sized family businesses to secure their survival by building connections. “I want to create a future for my daughter.” We’re already planning my next visit, during which I’ll tell an expanded network about CoWorkLand.

My second day in Cork began at the Rubicon Centre – https://connectedhubs.ie/hubs/profile/256 – the incubator of the regional university MTU, which serves 18,000 students at six locations in the counties of Cork and Kerry. And of course, since we’re in Ireland, there’s a sporting connection here too. Paul Healy, the director of the Rubicon Centre, confirmed my suspicion that there were some concerns when the Institutes of Technology from two counties, which regularly compete against each other in Gaelic football, merged. However, the focus has always been on optimizing collaboration with companies in the region, from across Ireland, and from abroad (there are already several connections to Germany). The 130 spin-in companies that have found a home at the Rubicon Centre are proof of how well this works. Collaboration with universities in the United Kingdom and the USA has also consistently proven successful. There isn’t a partner in Germany yet, but I’m optimistic that CoWorkLand will be able to establish contacts there in the future.

To conclude my tour, I traveled to West Cork. There, nestled amidst picturesque landscapes, lies the town of Skibbereen. Right in the heart of the city center, in the old cinema, Ireland’s first 1GB hub is now located. The Ludgate Hub – https://connectedhubs.ie/hubs/profile/48 – started out 10 years ago, primarily with startups. Later, many residents from the surrounding area, working for multinational companies in Cork, used the coworking space to get to work. After Covid, according to Hub Manager Elma Connolly, a new trend emerged: young entrepreneurs, some with families, moved from Dublin back to their hometown in search of a better quality of life. Ludgate is now also a community hub, with its event space used by clubs and the Chamber of Commerce.

After Skibbereen, my drive home to Mayo took me through the picturesque landscapes of West Cork and Kerry. Ryanair offers flights to Kerry from Hahn (or “Frankfurt” in Ryanair’s parlance). Of course, transfers from Dublin can also be arranged. For those who want to come by car, the DFDS ferry from Dunkirk to Rosslare is a good option.