Ronnie Simpson's Blog

Hollis Europe was kind enough to ask me to write the introduction to the Ireland section of its 2007/08 guide to European PR (the bible of the PR industry). In it I suggested that 2007 was the year when the Irish PR industry matured to the extent that it was almost as difficult to find a good, available PR person as it always is to find a plumber.

Gerry Davis, CEO of PRCA Ireland confirms the buoyant state of the industry. “There appears to be plenty of business out there and members are reporting healthy levels of new business enquiries. The demand for staff is reflected in appointment notices on the PRII web site which are at an all time high.”
 

The demand for PR services appears, however, to be having an impact on the market with a growing shortage of experienced people.  The industry may be paying a price for not doing more to bring on and train its talented young people.
 

Another reflection of the maturity of the Irish PR market is the growth of specialist boutique agencies. Traditionally, because the market was relatively small, most PR agencies were generalist rather than specialist. Today we are seeing the emergence of specialist agencies in particular across consumer, technology and public affairs.

We may start to see these firms being subsumed into bigger agencies, not only to add to the specialist capabilities of the larger firms but to add a layer of experienced staff that some of them may welcome to support future growth.
 

Of course the elephant in the room is the continued performance of the Irish economy which by any standards up to now has been exceptional.  The Economic & Social Research Institute is forecasting that economic growth will slow to 3.9% in 2008 while Davy Stockbrokers is less optimistic at 3%. There is now clear evidence of a slowdown in house price inflation which is much needed. The worry is that this soft landing turns into something more unpalatable.

Of course the PR industry came through and survived the last downturn following the dot.com crash so consultancies are older and hopefully wiser.  Indeed that very caution may be the reason why some sections of it have been reluctant to hire and train more young people. Which is where we came in. No-one ever said running a consultancy was easy.
 
Ronnie Simpson BBS, FPRII is founder of Simpson Financial & Technology PR in Dublin and a board member of the PRCA Ireland. In 2007 he was presented with a Fellowship of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland in recognition of his contribution to the profession.
 

Full version of this article is available in “Hollis Europe – the guide to European Public Relations & PR Networks, 07/08”.
See www.hollis-pr.com