The Holyhead Dún Laoghaire Link Organisation was founded around three years ago to expand and develop the existing links between these two port towns and especially, to create opportunities for co-operation between the business and voluntary sectors on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Membership of the Link Organisation is open to all organisations based in Holyhead or Dún Laoghaire wishing to develop contacts with like organisations in the other town. Tourism, cultural, linguistic, business, sports, arts and heritage organisations all working together under the auspices of the Link Organisation to maximise their own potential in partnership with their counterparts on the other shore.

Meetings of the Link Organisation are held every two months, rotating between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire, at which, matters of mutual concern are discussed and proposals for action considered by the delegates from Wales and Ireland.

The Link Organisation enjoys the support of the Holyhead Town Council, Ynys Mon (Anglesey) County Council and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, indeed, elected representatives from these local authorities are enthusiastic and committed participants in the Link Organisation.

Under the joint chairpersons, Mr. Jeff Evans (Holyhead) and Mr. Breasal Ó Caollaí (Dún Laoghaire), the Link Organisation has embarked on an ambitious plan to regenerate and promote economic growth in Holyhead and to effectively tackle the Town’s perceived "dual peripherality" i.e. within Great Britain and within Wales itself.

This plan centres on the exploitation of the central geographic position of Holyhead in these islands and that, Holyhead has the potential to attract investment, encourage job creation and to foster business and trade opportunities by becoming an extraterritorial economic suburb of the Dublin region. A new logo and marketing initiative to underpin this plan has been adopted - "Holyhead - the Heart of the Isles" - designed and created locally in Holyhead.

To this end, the Link Organisation views the new and positive relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland, as set forth in the Belfast Agreement of 1998, as providing a basis for the development of several key areas of mutual concern through the operation of the British Irish Council. This new "British-Irish" avenue for co-operative and mutually beneficial endeavours augments the already very successful INTERREG programmes operated by the European Union which have assisted both Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead in the recent past with the "WAVELINK CARD".

Projects and objectives currently under consideration by the Link Organisation are generally focused on the economic development of Holyhead and include the following:-

• The establishment of an International British Irish University (IBIU) in Holyhead under the auspices of the Belfast Agreement to give tangible expression to the new dispensation existing between the United Kingdom and Ireland. The IBIU should be established in modular form provided by existing universities in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.
  
  
• The location of any Secretariat or Headquarters of the British Irish Council in Holyhead - the heart of the Isles - equidistant from all major participant regions and the sovereign governments in these Isles. Holyhead has excellent sea, rail and road connections, in addition, it is very close to RAF Valley for ministerial air travel, if required.
  
  
• The creation of a €URO friendly Holyhead to encourage visitors and business, not only from Ireland but from other European Union countries too. Recently, a delegation from Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire visited Newry, Co. Down, to view the actual interface between Sterling and the €URO. Plans are well advanced to have businesses in Holyhead accept the €URO and to introduce dual pricing and possibly, a dual till system.
  
  
• The development of a more comprehensive transport system between Holyhead and Dublin / Dún Laoghaire to, in effect, bring the jobs of Dublin closer to the people of Holyhead and to open up the potential of the housing market in Holyhead to the people working in Dublin. This policy envisages the commercial use of RAF Valley for flights to and from Dublin Airport’s new Terminal D when constructed.
  
  
• With the greater flexibility of transport options between Holyhead and the Dublin Region, the area around Holyhead will be in a position to offer itself as a viable location for businesses wishing to expand in Dublin but cannot due the high costs involved. This will encourage the development of an IT Sector in Holyhead linked to its parent operation in Dublin offering real high tech job opportunities for young people in North Wales.

The Link Organisation views the success of the Irish economy over the past decade as a model for the development of North Wales, especially, Holyhead. Therefore, the Link Organisation seeks all available opportunities to advance the above objectives, including, welcoming the advice and assistance from all sectors in Ireland and Wales to enable us, as cousins, share the Celtic Tiger

Click Here for the diagram of the proposed new structure

Click Here to download the proposal presented by the Genealogical Society of Ireland
to the meeting of the Holyhead Dun Laoghaire Link Organisation
held in Holyhead on July 16th 2007.

HOLYHEAD - "the Heart of the Isles"

DÚN LAOGHAIRE - "on Dublin's Riviera"