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InterTradeIreland recently welcomed both Social Enterprise NI (SENI) and Social Enterprise ROI (SERI) to its offices in Newry to discuss the opportunities available for cross-border collaboration and to demonstrate their commitment to growing the Social Enterprise sector across both Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Social enterprises have an important leadership role to play in the development of the economy in Ireland and Northern Ireland and the changing economic landscape is re-affirming the critical role that the sector plays and will continue to play in delivering regional, sustainable socio-economic growth.
Welcoming the meeting and reflecting on its strategic significance, Colin Mc Cabrey, Director of Trade at InterTradeIreland commented “We were delighted to welcome Social Enterprise NI (SENI) and Social Enterprise ROI (SERI) to InterTradeIreland. The Social Enterprise sector has an instrumental role to play in delivering jobs and skills while contributing to the anti-poverty and net zero agenda that both jurisdictions share. We’re looking forward to working in partnership with SENI and SERI to help profile and support the good work of the sector.”
Colin Jess, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise NI said “We very much value the commitment of InterTradeIreland to help our sector grow trade cross-border and in so-doing we and our counterparts in Ireland can work in closer collaboration to the benefit of all’.
“There are immense opportunities to share learning and research. We can jointly help policy makers and businesses make decisions to deliver against their Environmental, Social and Governance agendas” commented Páraig Hennessey, Board Member of Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland.
As private businesses are further pressed to demonstrate their commitment to environmental and social causes there is a greater expectation on social enterprises to have the adaptability, resource and capability to meet this growing need. It presents a great opportunity for the sector but the challenge will be whether the sector has the capacity and capability to deliver.
With almost 25 years’ experience supporting thousands of SMEs across the island, InterTradeIreland has a deep and practical understanding of how to help businesses address these challenges. Through InterTradeIreland, social enterprises in the manufacturing and tradable services sectors can access support to help them scale up and extend their reach in the opposite jurisdiction.
