A NEW report has revealed that Ireland’s booming film and TV industry, including regional screen hubs such as Limerick, are at risk of stalling unless the government urgently reinstates its uplift incentive.
The independent report, carried out by international consultancy Olsberg SPI for Innovate Limerick/Film in Limerick, warns that the loss of the incentive, which encouraged productions to film outside Dublin and Wicklow, has slowed momentum in regional hubs such as the Mid West.
“The removal of the regional uplift has significantly impacted regional growth in the Mid West and elsewhere in Ireland. A dedicated replacement, supported by a well-structured regional production fund, would restore momentum, encourage sustainable growth, and consolidate the regions as thriving film hubs outside the capital,” the report states.
The report was commissioned by Innovate Limerick/Film in Limerick as part of its ongoing efforts to assess and strengthen the Mid West’s role in Ireland’s national screen industry and funded in partnership with Regional Skills Mid West.
Limerick and the wider Mid West region has developed into one of Ireland’s leading regional screen hubs since the opening of Troy Studios and the establishment of the Film in Limerick office.
AppleTV+’s Foundation (2021), largely filmed at Troy Studios, signalled the Mid West’s emergence as a major international production hub, followed by projects such as Bonhoeffer (2025), a €22m Irish-Belgian feature shot across Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary, and the upcoming 4 Kids Walk into a Bank starring Liam Neeson, which was filmed to much excitement in Limerick City.
Other regional highlights include the fantasy series The Wayfinders (in production at Troy Studios and on location in Clare and Tipperary), the thriller Woken (2024), filmed in Clare, the TV-series Hidden Assets, filmed in Clare and Limerick, and TV drama Smother (2019–2023), filmed on the Atlantic coast in Lahinch.
Paul C Ryan, regional film manager at Film in Limerick said that “as the report makes clear, without a functioning and long-term regional uplift, the regions cannot compete on a level playing field with Dublin and Wicklow. Restoring it will ensure that every region can keep crews in consistent work, and attract world-class productions.”
The report also highlights the wider economic benefits, with more than 90 local businesses, from hotels to hardware suppliers, engaged by a single feature film production in the region.
