Home Page

Tipperary scores highly on a range of criteria as an alternative to urban living. It offers great quality of life with access to all major services, things to do, activities to participate in, scenic locations to visit and many of the attractions associated with life away from the city. It is centrally located with excellent infrastructure including high speed broadband connectivity and a growing network of digital hubs for remote working.

Quality of Life 

Remote working has facilitated many people to move from urban environments to rural parts of Ireland and Tipperary has seen its share of new arrivals. A key attraction, of course, is the quality of life that rural Ireland can provide. Tipperary has many characteristics that contribute to a good quality of life for its citizens that can influence people to choose to live and work in the county. These attributes can be turned into significant advantages for the Midlands:

• The cost of living has been estimated to be around one-third less than large urban areas
• Through rural in character Tipperary has major towns located across the county, offering all the facilities expected of urban areas in a rural setting
• Beautiful coastline is within 30 minutes travel time
• Part of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands and Ireland’s Ancient East, Tipperary boasts a host of activities and attractions for visitors and residents including the world-famous Rock of Cashel.
• Tipperary is home to an array of outdoor activities including water sports on the Suir, Shannon and Lough Derg, walks and trails in numerous mountain ranges and home to the scenic splendour of the Golden Vale.
• Tipperary has 4 major general hospitals within 30 minutes travel time.
• Three major cities are within 90 minutes travel time.
• Tipperary is well served with schools and colleges from primary to third-level and for transport to colleges outside the county.

Strong Business Environment 

As Ireland’s largest inland county, Tipperary is home to a strong local economy with a vibrant business culture.

• Located at the heart of Ireland’s Golden Vale, Tipperary is in close proximity to international airports and six major ports, all connected by motorway networks providing direct access to the European market.
• Tipperary boasts five municipal districts and many vibrant urban centres, a highly-skilled workforce and an established sub-supplier ecosystem. 
• In addition to a thriving SME sector, Ireland is home to some of the world’s largest organisations across the global technology, pharmaceutical, biosciences, manufacturing and financial services sectors.
• It offers a supportive business environment with a range of organisations present and active in the county including the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Tipperary LEO and Tipperary County Council.
• A strong education and training environment is in place with organisations such as Tipperary ETB and others working pro-actively to provide the skills necessary for businesses to succeed. TUS, a third-level institution with campuses in Clonmel and Thurles also offers supports to local industry including R&D capability.

Connectivity 

• Tipperary has commercial Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) in eight town across the county, Carrick on Suir, Clonmel, Cahir, Cashel, Nenagh, Roscrea, Templemore and Tipperary Town.
• A total of 65% of premises in the county have been connected to high-speed broadband already with the remaining 29,000 to be connected part of the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
• Work is progressing to connect 60 designated Wifi zones in major towns across Tipperary as part of the Wifi4EU programme.
• A total of 21 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are being rolled out across the county as part of the first phase of the NBP.
• OPENeir continues to upgrade its infrastructure to bring gigabit fibre to more rural premises and separate from the NPB.
• A number of other operators continue to bring broadband connectivity to premises across the county including some with wireless offerings.
• Mobile phone services continue to improve on an ongoing basis with more and more locations able to avail of 4G services.

Skills/Talent 

Tipperary has an educated and skilled labour force with high levels of staff retention. Around two-thirds of young people have third-level qualifications. 

• With two third-level campuses in the county and many other colleges within commuting distance young people in Tipperary have excellent opportunities to get the best education and training.
• Tipperary ETB and TUS collaborate with indigenous and multinational businesses to ensure the skills available match their needs and requirements.
• A strong culture and tradition of collaboration from research, development and internship perspectives has proven to be a key factor in the success of companies who have already relocated to and expanded globally from Tipperary.
• The era of remote working provides a great opportunity for young people growing up in Tipperary to pursue their chosen career without having the leave the county, or at least to return home to their native place at some later stage to live and work. Previously, many young people had to move away to attend a third-level institution and then look for work in one of the major cities post[1]graduation. With remote working, this is no longer the case and this change has the potential to have a very significant and positive impact on the population of the county in the future.

Digital Hubs 

Tipperary is well served to meet expected demand for digital hubs to facilitate remote working with a number in operation already and more set to come on stream. Though many will see benefits from the use of a digital hubs over working in their own home, nevertheless a key factor will be the availability of additional services at the hub location. The availability of meeting rooms, printing and other services and video communications facilities will be attractive to users. In addition to the hubs in larger towns considerable progress is being made to ensure that the rural BCP’s can be sites for remote working. These are in areas where broadband connectivity has been most limited in the past and this initiative has delivered 21 entirely new remote working locations on stream. It is also expected that smaller remote working sites will be established in villages in the coming years where there is demand. The government’s Our Rural Future policy document includes a number of commitments that will help facilitate the provision of such services in the coming years