Quality and ambition of creative industries sector present enormous opportunities for Ireland

Minister of State Alan Dillon, speaking at EDGE26 in Galway on Thursday, said the Government is committed to supporting Ireland’s globally ambitious creative companies 

The Irish Government is committed to supporting digital creative industries across the West and North-West. That was the message delivered by Alan Dillon TD, Minister of State for Employment, Small Businesses and Retail & Circular Economy, when he addressed 400 delegates at the EDGE26 Creative Economy Summit in Galway on Thursday afternoon. 

The Minister was speaking at the closing stages of the inaugural Summit, where he stated that the quality and ambition of the creative industries sector present enormous opportunities for Ireland. Congratulating Niamh Costello and the team at CREW (Creative Enterprise West) for their vision in bringing EDGE26 to life, he reflected on the opportunities ahead for Ireland’s creative industries and innovation ecosystem, and the power of supporting homegrown talent and enterprise.

“EDGE26 highlights the scale of opportunity within Ireland’s creative industries as a driver of innovation, intellectual property creation, and globally scalable enterprise. Ireland is well positioned to strengthen its international standing across digital creative sectors including games, animation, immersive technologies, and creative tech,” he said. 

Continuing, Minister Dillon spoke about the sector creating jobs, driving innovation, and developing opportunities, noting that regional balance is crucially important. “I have great confidence in what the future holds for the digital creative industries in the West and North-West, and beyond. Platforms such as EDGE26 play an important role in bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to strengthen collaboration and support future growth.” 

Minister Dillon acknowledged the powerful momentum in the development of creative tech startups through the establishment of hubs such as CREW in Galway. “The Government, through Enterprise Ireland, remains firmly committed to supporting these globally ambitious Irish companies, ensuring they have the capability, connectivity, and support needed to compete and succeed internationally,” he continued.

Earlier in the day, CREW launched a landmark report on the sector in the region – past, present and future. Commissioned by CREW, in partnership with UrbanLab at University of Galway, the whitepaper – From Momentum to Scale: Digital Creative Industries in the West and North-West of Ireland: A Decade of Progress and the Path to 2036 – examines the growth of the sector between 2016 and 2026 across Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Clare.

The whitepaper identified three central findings – that finance is the dominant structural barrier; that commercial and market access gaps follow closely behind; and that the geographic distribution of both opportunity and support remains too uneven. 

It went on to set out seven clear recommendations. Among them, strengthening demand-side and market access supports; establishing a recurring regional evidence framework; developing a sector-literate investment pathway; and redesigning skills provision around commercial and IP capabilities. 

Also included were recommendations around implementing a distributed hub-and-network support model; providing dedicated AI literacy and IP readiness support; and treating network infrastructure and intermediary capacity as core economic infrastructure rather than optional programming.

Drawing on the research, Minister Dillon acknowledged the challenges identified by the report. “It is obvious that there is enormous opportunity in Ireland’s creative industries that can grow into international companies, and that matters. It matters to the Government and to the economy. The roadmap is being developed, and there is a clear approach, at Government level, to supporting the sector and enabling it to grow,” he added.

Taking place in Dexcom Stadium in Galway, EDGE26 was hosted by CREW and co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Northern & Western Regional Programme 2021-2027. It was supported by Enterprise Ireland, with Atlantic Technology University (ATU) Galway as its Lead Patron. 

Ends

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Notes to Editor:

About CREW

Creative Enterprise West (CREW) is a not-for-profit organisation supporting the growth and development of the digital creative industries sector in the West and North-West.  It provides incubation, business support, training, and networking opportunities for creative digital enterprises spanning games, animation, screen, and immersive tech. The CREW Enterprise and Innovation Hub, which opened in 2024 in Galway, is home to a growing community of digital creative startups and scale-ups. For more information, visit crewdigital.ie  

 

About EDGE26

EDGE26 – Ireland’s Creative Economy Summit, took place in Galway on Thursday, May 21st, 2026, at the newly opened Dexcom Stadium. Led by CREW, EDGE26 built on the organisation’s Where Creativity Means Business strategy. It brought together 400 delegates across creative businesses, policymakers, educators, investors, and industry leaders, to explore how Ireland can grow globally-competitive creative industries within a rapidly expanding global creative economy. For more information, visit www.edgesummit.ie