Truagh Spirit Hub
Truagh Spirit Hub
Social enterprise is at the heart of Truagh Spirit, north Monaghan
Five minutes from Emyvale is the Monaghan Hub closest to the border – Truagh Spirit.
It sits in a landscape where, “a business or entrepreneur can be found down nearly every lane,” says manager Fiona McCaffrey Jones.
“Truagh Spirit is a social enterprise so we are a grassroots organisation that’s very much community development led,” she explained as she worked at one of the popular hot desks.
Among the services it provides in Truagh parish and the wider north Monaghan is Meals On Wheels and supporting it’s social enterprise roots is something that also appeals to hub users.
“Truagh Spirit hub is quite different from other hubs in that it’s a social enterprise. So, by renting out the office space, you feel like you’re giving something back to the community,” says hot desk user, accountant Colin O’Brien.
“Coming to the hub has allowed me greater flexibility in terms of my work life balance. Instead of going to Dublin on the train, I come here. I live north of the border so this is 15 minutes here door-to-door. It gives me much greater flexibility from a family point of view as well,” he added.
Fiona explained that frontier workers who live north of the border and work south of it, utilise the hub because in order to be compliant with their contracts and EU GDPR, they have to work in the Republic of Ireland.
Income generated by the hub, “is ploughed straight back into services for older people and vulnerable people in the community, and especially our hub users who work for large multinationals, they like that they are able to do something like that to support a community,” she added.
The reliable broadband and the ability to book on a flexible basis allows hot desk users to fit naturally into the community as well as the world of work.
Colin would encourage other workers near the border to consider using the hub saying, “it’s a good location for north south workers. There’s a very friendly atmosphere here.”
In the next year work will complete on Truagh Spirit’s new Rural Enterprise and Digital Hub targeting Dublin-bound commuters living in north Monaghan, remote working frontier workers, and the wider community.
Fiona explained, “we’re going to be even closer to the border. We’ll be able to facilitate many more remote workers but also start-ups and small businesses and sole traders who want to avail of top-quality broadband and all the ancillary services that will go with that. It is a very exciting time for us.”
