A CRAFT fair held in Dublin earlier this year has created more than 600 jobs because of orders placed by overseas firms.
An estimated 2,000 new jobs have come on stream over the past three years in the Irish crafts industry, directly because of new business orders placed with firms who exhibited at the annual Showcase Ireland Fair. The figures were released by the Crafts Council of Ireland, which said Irish companies secured sales orders worth £17.2 million at the fair.
Follow-up orders represented business of £100 million. In all, 636 jobs were created by exhibiting companies. The figures included 336 full-time and 189 part-time jobs and 111 out workers. The outworkers were recruited to facilitate seasonal and increased demand.
The figures are the result of a survey carried out by Wilt on Research and Marketing Ltd on behalf of the Crafts Council. The crafts, gifts and fashion trade fair was visited by more than 11,000 buyers, including 1,600 overseas buyers from Europe, Britain, the US and Japan.
Welcoming the figures, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, said he was encouraged by the increase on last year's figures, where 402 jobs were created. "Exhibitors are increasing their employment levels at a consistent rate, year after year," he said.
Mr Cyril Forbes, outgoing chairman of the Crafts Council said that small indigenous companies were the solution to job creation. Showcase had a formula that worked, he said. He stressed that craft jobs were highly important to the economy and the quality of life in small towns and villages in Ireland.
Mr Forbes called on the Government to increase its subvention to the Crafts Council - currently around £450,000 per annum - so that it can continue to develop the industry.
Mr Bruton also announced the appointment of Ms Terry Kelly as the new chairwoman of the Crafts Council. A former chief executive of the Crafts Council, she has been self-employed for the past five years. She is an executive director of the Irish Landmark Trust, a member of the board of the EBS Building Society and a director of Design yard.
