As thousands of school leavers across Ireland prepare to receive their Leaving Certificate results on Friday and consider their next steps, the career landscape they are entering is rapidly changing. The traditional distinction between a “creative” and a “technology” career is increasingly blurred. Skills and technologies developed in areas such as gaming, animation, immersive technology, digital design, AI and digital content are creating career opportunities far beyond the creative industries, with applications across sectors from healthcare and education to advanced manufacturing, space and tourism.
The wider economic opportunity is significant. Industry and policy estimates, drawing on CSO data, put the contribution of Ireland’s creative and cultural sectors at more than €5 billion in GVA and more than 80,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Research published by CREW (Creative Enterprise West) at the EDGE26 Creative Economy Summit this year identified 1,045 active digital creative businesses across the West and Northwest of Ireland alone, with the number of enterprises growing by almost one third between 2019 and 2023 and employment increasing by more than 50% over the same period.
As AI and emerging technologies reshape the world of work, the ability to combine creativity, technology and critical thinking and apply those capabilities across different industries will become increasingly valuable.
Skills for a changing world of work
For students considering their next steps, courses and career pathways across film and television, animation, games, music technology, immersive technology, fashion technology, and digital design extend from further education through to undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral study. Increasingly, these pathways do not lead to one narrowly defined industry or career.
Niamh Costello, CEO of CREW said:
We see creativity and technology increasingly converge. Skills developed in the digital creative industries are not only creating new opportunities within the creative sector, they are increasingly contributing to innovation across the wider economy.
For young people considering their next steps, there are exciting career opportunities emerging both within the creative industries and far beyond them. We also want to see more of that talent become new ideas, intellectual property and businesses that can compete internationally.
The evidence tells us these companies are already being built. The opportunity now is not simply to create more startups, but to help ambitious creative businesses build sustainable companies that commercialise intellectual property, access global markets and create high-value employment in Ireland.
Mary Carty, FRSA, CEO of Wilson & Keys said:
The global creative economy is forecast to reach €4.5 trillion by 2035. A student starting out now is stepping into a sector that’s expanding rapidly. When I say creative, I mean digital, commercial and international, with the fastest growing roles combining creative talent with technology and business skills. And that’s exactly the kind of talent Ireland produces.
This isn’t a niche sector. It’s one of the country’s largest employers, nearly one in 11 workers in Ireland. Yet many students and parents receiving Leaving Cert results this week are not aware of the scale of the global demand and the potential it offers for future careers.
LAUNCH of CLIMB Accelerator Bootcamp at CREW
Against this backdrop, eight ambitious digital creative businesses will be selected this autumn to take part in the CLIMB Accelerator Bootcamp, an intensive scaling programme offering direct access to experienced entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders and specialist mentors.
Developed by CREW, the Accelerator Bootcamp is part of the wider CLIMB programme, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Northern & Western Regional Programme 2021-2027 and supported by Enterprise Ireland.
From ambitious creative business to global company
CREW has identified a “missing middle” in the support available to creative businesses, with many founders having moved beyond early startup supports but not yet being served by scaling programmes designed around the challenges of creative and IP led businesses, from commercialising intellectual property and building leadership capability to accessing investment and international markets.
Leading the programme will be entrepreneur, investor and strategy adviser Mary Carty FRSA, CEO of Wilson & Keys and co-founder of AwakenHub and AwakenAngels. As Lead Entrepreneur, Carty will work directly with the eight selected businesses alongside specialist mentors and coaches.
Applications now open
Running from 25 September to 15 November 2026, the eight-week programme combines expert led masterclasses, mentoring and peer learning across intellectual property, market expansion, leadership, funding and investment readiness, including two immersive in person weekends in Galway.
Applications are now open to trading digital creative businesses ready to scale, expand into new markets and develop their international potential. Eight businesses will be selected for the 2026 cohort.
Applications close on Friday 18 September. For more information and to apply visit: https://crewdigital.ie/programme/climb-accelerator-bootcamp/
About Mary Carty
Mary Carty FRSA is an investment, board and strategy adviser working at the intersection of capital, culture and inclusive growth. She sits on the Fund Advisory Panel of the €100M Western Investment Fund (Western Development Commission), and for six years was Non-Executive Director at Science Gallery International, overseeing its expansion from Europe to India, Australia and Mexico. She is CEO of Wilson & Keys.
She has founded and governed organisations where none existed before: co-founder of AwakenHub and the AwakenAngels syndicate, Outbox Incubator (the world’s first STEM incubator for girls), and Toddle, an email-marketing SaaS platform scaled to 30,000+ users, acquired in 2013.
BAFTA-nominated for her work with the National Galleries of Scotland, she advises boards and funds deploying capital into the creative economy, and has shaped the institutions that capital reaches, from Meath Local Authorities Arts Office to LaunchPad and CREW.
Over more than two decades Mary has established the organisations, frameworks and civic infrastructure that open access, create opportunities and change what is possible.
