In Confidence
Minutes of the 117th Meeting of the Board of InterTradeIreland, the Trade and Business
Development Body.
Tuesday 27th September 2011 – InterTradeIreland (11.00am – 12.45(pm)
Present:
Board Members:
Dr David Dobbin CBE
Mr John Fitzgerald
Mr Brendan Butler
Mr Ray Doherty
Mr Jack Gilmour
Mr Hugh Logue
Ms Patricia McKeown
Mr Tom Scott OBE
Executive:
Mr Liam Nellis
Mr Aidan Gough
Ms Margaret Hearty
Mr Laurence Lord
Ms Orla McGlennon
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Chief Executive
Director of Strategy & Policy
Director of Programmes and Business Services
Corporate Services Director
Board Secretary
117.1 Apologies.
Apologies were received from Dr Gerard O’Hare CBE and Mr Vincent Parker.
117.2 Authorisation of Previous Minutes.
The Minutes of the 30th August 2011 Board Meeting were approved by the Board. The Board also
approved the Summary of Board Minutes of the 30th August 2011 Board Meeting for publication on the
InterTradeIreland Website.
117.3 Conflict of Interest.
No conflicts of interest were declared.
117.4 Matters Arising.
Mr Nellis advised the Board that both the date and venue of the Economic Forum and details of the
Innovation Challenge Programme Briefing Sessions had been emailed to Board members for
information.
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117.5 Chief Executive’s Report
Mr Nellis presented highlights from his Chief Executive’s Report, which had been circulated in advance
of the meeting. He reported on the following:
The Seedcorn competition closed for registrations on 16th September. 351 companies registered their
interest in the competition while 200 actually submitted a business plan. Scoring of business plans
commenced on 20th September and is scheduled to complete on 12th October with the regional finalists
being notified of their success on the same day. Regional finals are scheduled for 1 st -10th November
with the final judging and awards ceremony taking place on 30th November in the Burlington Hotel,
Dublin. Mr Nellis advised that all Board members would be invited to attend this event.
The “What do VCs Really Do” event in Belfast on 31st August was attended by 11 companies. Feedback
from the event was very positive with 100% of the companies rating the event as good or excellent.
Work on the ‘Guide to Venture Capital’ is nearing completion while work on the on-line version is on
schedule.
The Cross Border Collaboration Voucher was launched (week beginning 12th September) allowing
academics and companies to apply for funds to assist with travel and accommodation costs related to
developing relations with a cross border partner. The voucher is capped at £500/€550 and it is hoped
will further stimulate the cross-border applications going in to the FP7 funding programme. Statistically
those collaborating on a North/South basis and applying for such funding in the past have had a greater
success rate than without a cross-border partner. The online survey from the Collaborate to Innovate
conference held at the end of June has now been finalised. The overall impression of the conference was
very positive with 83% able to say that their knowledge of FP7 and the support mechanisms available
have increased as a result.
The annual Irish Times InterTradeIreland/Innovation Awards were launched on Friday 2nd September
in Belfast. Now in its third year, the awards will again recognise and promote the best innovations
within organisations of all sectors and all sizes across the island. Paypal’s Vice President, Louise
Phelan is one of this years judges along with Liam Nagel, (CEO Sisk Group), Barry Maloney (from
Venture Capital fund Balderton Capital), Dr Chris Horn, entrepreneur turned investor, Ivan Coulter,
(Sigmoid), Liam Kavanagh, (Irish Times) and InterTradeIreland CEO. The closing date for applications
is 5th December with the Awards taking place in March 2012.
The InterTradeIreland 2011 Innovation Conference entitled ‘Building Capability for Innovation’ is
taking place at Queen's University Belfast on Tuesday 4th October and Wednesday 5th October. The
keynote speaker is Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter who holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at
Harvard Business School, where she specialises in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change and
she is also the former editor of Harvard Business Review. Mr Nellis invited all Board members to the
event.
On 13th September, InterTradeIreland hosted the Border Region Economy Project workshop which was
attended by officials from a range of departments and agencies in both jurisdictions, including DETI,
Invest NI, Forfás, Enterprise Ireland, IDA and the Special EU Programmes Body. This high level group
discussed the potential for a border region economic strategy.
The ‘Environmental Regulations and Cross Border Trade and Business Study’ was recently published
and referred to in Ministerial speeches at the Environmental Conference in Dublin on 15 th September.
Further work will follow on the issue of regulating cross border movement of waste.
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Margaret Hearty chaired a conference “Developing your Cross-Border Business” in Letterkenny on
Friday 2nd September. The conference was organised by IBEC-CBI in association with Border People
and the NSMC. The conference covered subjects such as Cross Border Employment Law, Cross Border
Business Taxes, Challenges facing SME’s & Support Mechanisms. InterTradeIreland also hosted a
session on Accessing Business Grants in each jurisdiction. The conference was attended by over 70
businesses from the region.
The ‘Innovation Ecosystem’ study referred to at a recent NSMC meeting is progressing well with the
steering group discussing the interim report.
Aidan Gough presented at the All-island Conference on Energy Efficiency and Jobs which took place in
Dundalk on 1st September.
Judging for the Ernst and Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ Awards will take place in October with the
Awards ceremony taking place at Citywest Hotel, Dublin on 20th October. President Mary McAleese
will be guest of honour. A ‘Meet the Minister’ event introducing all of this year’s finalists to Ministers
Foster and Bruton is planned for Belfast in November.
The launch of the Ulster Bank ‘Business Achievers’ Awards took place in Dublin on 9th September.
Invest Northern Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are also supporting this event.
The first series of companies applying to the Elevate programme are being assessed on 20 th September.
An ongoing series of meetings with local councils, chambers, CEBs and LEAs to promote the
programme is taking place.
While there was no Acumen committee meeting in September the first cohort of students on the new
Acumen Graduate Programme will graduate tomorrow along with the Fusion graduates.
InterTradeIreland have been asked to participate on the Steering Group of SME Access to Public
Procurement which has been convened by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the
request of Minister Bruton.
InterTradeIreland had a stand at the Career Zoo job fair in the Mansion House Dublin on 10th and 12th
September. There were 10,000 attendees over the 2 days and it was a valuable opportunity to market
both the Fusion and Acumen Graduate programmes. The stand was also visited on Saturday afternoon
by presidential hopeful Gay Mitchell MEP and Minister Lucinda Creighton. InterTradeIreland staff took
the opportunity to brief both of them on the work of the Body.
The new Innovation Challenge Programme was launched with over 190 companies registered. It is a
very successful programme with 80-90% of the companies having so far expressed an interest and
feedback so far has been extremely positive.
Aidan Gough presented on ‘Supporting SME’S and Developing North/South Trade’ at the All-Island
Tax Seminar in Dundalk on 15th September. The seminar was run in partnership with the Chartered
Institute of Taxation and the Irish Tax Institute.
Mr Nellis reported that our Communications Manager, Rachael Downing was leaving to take up the
position of Director with Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and wished her every success in her
new role.
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117.6 Board Sub Committee/Steering Committee Reports
Fusion Steering Panel Report
Mr Logue reported back from the Fusion Sub Committee meeting held on 30th August to review
applications submitted by Helix (Fusion Managing Agent). He advised that 4 projects had been
considered at the meeting and all 4 had been approved. He advised that 2 projects were from companies
in Northern Ireland and 2 from companies in Ireland. The Board noted the decisions of the Sub
Committee.
Mr Logue informed the Board that the Fusion Graduation would take place tomorrow in Dublin and all
Board members were welcome to attend.
HR Sub Committee Report
Ms McKeown reported back from the HR Sub Committee which had taken place prior to the Board
Meeting. She advised that the Body continues to have an approved staffing compliment of 42. The
Human Resources Report presented at the meeting has indicated that InterTradeIreland continues to
have excellent staff relations, high levels of morale with absence rate continuing to be extremely low.
The payroll budget, pay awards and on-going requirement for efficiency savings had been discussed at
the meeting.
Ms McKeown advised that with regard to the Body’s approved Equality Scheme, the Commission
requires all designated public Bodies to submit a revised Equality Scheme for approval. She reported
that work has already commenced on preparing a draft revised Equality Scheme for InterTradeIreland
with a public consultation over a 3 month period commencing in early January.
She reported that the Body is currently considering applying for the Investors in People accreditation.
Following a Board discussion, the importance of involving all staff members in cross directorate teams
was highlighted.
Mr Lord informed the Board that a staff survey is due to be conducted in the coming months.
117.7 For Information, Consideration, Discussion, Decision &/or Approval
Economic Forum Update
Mr Gough reported that the focus of the third InterTradeIreland Economic Forum will be on the path to
recovery and how an export and innovation-led strategy can address the jobs challenge. The various
speakers will be asked to address themselves to exploring the possible strategies for a sustainable
economic recovery for the island of Ireland. The programme will include:

Global Economic Outlook and the Island of Ireland - Kevin O'Rourke is a Professor of
Economics at Trinity College Dublin. He received his PhD from Harvard in 1989, and has taught
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at Columbia, Harvard, University College Dublin and Sciences Po Paris. From October 2011, he
will be teaching at All Souls College in Oxford. Global Economic Outlook and the Island of
Ireland

The Jobs Challenge - John P. Martin is Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at
the OECD. He is an Economics graduate from University College Dublin and Nuffield College,
Oxford. In 1975, he became research fellow at Nuffield College and lecturer in economics at
Merton College, Oxford; he also lectured in economics at the University of Buckingham.

Innovation and Recovery - Soumitra Dutta is the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Business
and Technology and the academic director of INSEAD. He has been a visiting Professor at
several international universities including the University of California at Berkeley, Oxford and
Cambridge. His current research is on technology strategy and innovation at both corporate and
national policy levels.

Innovation and Recovery - Reinhilde Veugelers is professor of Managerial Economics, Strategy
and Innovation at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. From 2004-08 she was Economic Advisor
BEPA (Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis) to JM Barroso, European Commission.
Mr Gough informed the Board that the Forum would be held in Dublin Castle on Friday 25th November
with a dinner for Board members and speakers on the evening of the 24th. Following the success of
previous years, there will be an invited audience of 80-100 policy makers, economists and leading
business-people. The Board asked that the invitation list for the Forum be emailed to Board members
for their consideration. Mr Gough informed the Board that Minister Bruton has agreed to speak at the
event. Following discussion, it was agreed that the Forum should focus in a positive way on what can be
done to stimulate jobs and the economy particularly focussing on export and innovation and connected
back to the work of InterTradeIreland.
Business Monitor
Mr Gough presented the key findings from the Quarterly Business Monitor which is a leading indicator
of business confidence and cross border trade and business activity on the island. He reported that
similar to previous quarters, those most likely to be affected by a decrease in sales are smaller
businesses. 51% of those who employ 50 people or more experienced an increase in sales compared
with 36% of mid-sized businesses and 24% of small companies. He advised that the business services
sector has made the biggest improvement particularly the services sector. Mr Gough informed the Board
that the results of the Business Monitor help to shape new programmes as well as allowing us to refocus existing programmes if businesses participating in the survey indicate the need and demand.
The Board noted the Quarterly Business Monitor Executive Summary for the period April to June 2011.
Communications & Marketing Strategy Performance Update
Mr Lord updated the Board on the progress made towards InterTradeIreland’s strategic PR, public
affairs and online/social media objectives. This included:


Print Media Coverage achieved to date this year is now worth £1,399,552 in Media Advertising
Value Equivalent (MAVE) against the annual target of £2,008,557 (70% of annual target)
76,735 Website Visits achieved to date this year (118% of annual target)
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
1,154 followers/fans across the InterTradeIreland profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin
(115% of annual target)
Mr Lord reported that the website continues to drive results for the various campaign activities
including Seedcorn, Innova, Challenge and Fusion.
Governance and Financial Matters Report
Mr Lord presented the Governance and Financial Matters Report. He informed the Board that the 2011
Business Plan and 2011 - 2013 Corporate Plan had received Joint Ministerial approval at the
Educational Sectoral meeting on 21st September.
The Board noted the Governance and Financial Matters Report.
117.08 For Information and Noting
The Board noted the following reports:


The Accounts and Financial Commentary for August 2011
August 2011 summary and detailed Business Plan Progress Report.
117.09 Any Other Business
The Chairman led a Board discussion on the current economic climate and the continuing high demand
for InterTradeIreland programmes/support and the risks/difficulties in assisting companies who were
experiencing difficulties. The Board asked the Senior Management Team to explore the potential to
increase the provision of programmes that were oversubscribed, possibly through seeking support from
sister agencies on jointly funded programmes.
……………………………………Authorised by:
Dr David Dobbin CBE
Chairman, InterTradeIreland
25th October 2011
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