Building economic, cultural and educational bridges between the midlands, Northern Ireland and North America may provide long-term benefits and job opportunities in Offaly and surrounding counties.
The Atlantic Corridor project, whose Irish arm was officially opened in Tullamore at the weekend by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, aims to encourage a spirit of entrepreneurship based on a knowledge-based economy.
Dubbed an international trade and education alliance, the Atlantic Corridor has four geographical partners - the Irish midlands, upstate New York in the US, southern Ontario in Canada and the Lower Bann region in Northern Ireland. It will operate as a "virtual bridge" linking NAFTA and EU markets, Mr Cowen said.
The project will be managed by the Offaly Regeneration Company (ORC) on this side of the ocean. Mr Brian Garvan, who comes with almost three decades of experience with the IDA, has been appointed chief executive of the Offaly company and Ms Jackie Gorman has been appointed office manager.
The Department of Foreign Affairs will fund the project to the tune of £200,000 per annum for the four years to 2005.
"Business, education, culture and healthcare in the midlands all stand to benefit from the activities of the Atlantic Corridor," Mr Cowen said.
The scheme would provide opportunities for people to work in their own county at a reasonable wage, according to Mr John Flanagan, chairman of the Offaly Regeneration Board.
Mr Garvan has already set up meetings with State agencies and local bodies and with Shannon Development. Representatives of the North American partners will visit Tullamore after Christmas.
However, Mr Garvan warned there are "no quick fixes" to providing benefits for the local community. The appointments provided a focus for the project and the team would now sit down and work in partnership with the other three members of the project.
Through working on these partnerships, he believed opportunities could be created in Offaly and in the midlands generally.
Healthcare, a buoyant industry, especially in the midlands, is one area where Mr Garvan is hopeful job and investment opportunities can be provided. Education will also come under the microscope, to see how better to create opportunities for people in Offaly. Student exchanges will be encouraged between the four members of the project.
Mr Cowen said technology and information technology would be explored as a means to offering educational opportunities, "without physically bringing universities to every locale". Technology would have to be used to overcome geographical and physical realities," he said.
Speaking of Ireland's "new realities", Mr Cowen said we had to realise that we couldn't always look to someone or some company outside Ireland to solve our problems.
"Too often, when we have a need to create jobs, people look to see where's the saviour that's going to come in and create 200 jobs," the Minister said. There were a lot of "saviours" in our own communities, starting off with a small number of employees and then quietly building up as they went along. The Atlantic Corridor project was a way local firms, especially smaller firms, could identify the type of opportunities they might exploit in the future.
For further information on the Atlantic Corridor project contact Brian Garvan or Jackie Gorman at 0506-23902, or by e-mail at offalyregen@eircom.net