FERMANAGH'S small and medium-size business owners feel the county's potential is being inhibited by a poor roads network, inadequate mobile and broadband coverage and the unavailability of capital and skills.

Those were the findings of a survey commissioned by Fermanagh Economic Development Organisation (FEDO), which were presented to an audience of local businesses in the Lough Erne Resort yesterday (Wednesday).

Whilst acknowledging that such results were inevitable in an economic downturn, Chairman of FEDO, Peter Quinn, said Fermanagh needed to 'take the bull by the horns' in order to turn things around.

As a starting point, he said an Economic Development Action Plan had been drawn up to address some of the concerns raised by local business owners.

Describing himself as someone who is not a great believer in negativity and pessimism, Mr. Quinn said the purpose of the Action Plan had been to examine what kind of solutions were feasible.

Whilst the main business activity amongst Fermanagh's population of around 60,000 is farming, Mr. Quinn said there was still a considerably large manufacturing sector, with 1,500 non-farming SMEs.

He noted however that as Fermanagh suffers disproportionately from "peripherality", the number of new businesses starting in the County had reduced considerably.

In 2007/08 247 new businesses had been established. This decreased by over 50 per cent in 2009/10 to 121.

And whilst the County is heavily dependent on SMEs for growth and employment, 12.5 per cent of local businesses said they had major concerns about their capacity to survive over the next two years.

The FEDO chairman said this represented 1,500 being placed at risk, adding that another quarter expected to reduce their employment in the same period.

SME owners pointed to regional business rates, poor mobile coverage and a poor roads transport network as just some of the inhibiting factors for their business.

They also said there was a lack of information in relation to available funding, and a lack of skills in order to help their businesses develop further.

This was all despite Fermanagh's prime strategic location.

Describing Enniskillen as a "sub-regional centre" in an economic corridor, Mr Quinn added Fermanagh as a whole had links to Sligo, which is seen as a gateway, and Cavan, a hub.

But poor connectivity on an East-West basis from Ballygawley to Sligo is hindering business potential, according to Mr. Quinn.

He said a by-pass for Enniskillen was a "necessity".

"Roads Service would point to the cost which is understandable, but it doesn't make life any easier for the business in the County without it at the moment.

"Traffic congestion in Enniskillen is a major problem, it is something which came up time and time again during the survey." But urging his audience to refrain from focusing on the negative side of the presentation, Mr. Quinn said the County had so many good economic assets, no least it's new state-of-the-art hospital, St Angelo air port, South West College, an educated working force, the lakes, and it's "second to none" work ethic." He said what Fermanagh needed now was a loan fund for SMEs, improved training and monitoring of skills and a village renewal scheme because "there are far too many empty shops in Enniskillen".

"This is a problem for all of us to do something about," he urged.

In response to the presentation, Minster for Trade and Investment, Arlene Foster said Fermanagh had a history of picking itself up, dusting itself down and starting again.

"In 1841 Fermanagh had a population of 156,000 people. That population has now changed to 60 to 61,000, but in 1982 it was at 51,000 -- lowest count we ever had, but it seems we are on the up turn and that is for the better.

"It is also interesting to note that in 1982 we had unemployment rate of 15 per cent. It is 8 per cent at the moment and we have a claimant count, I'm told, of less that 5 per cent. This is all an indication that we have been in worse situations before and come out of it and we can do it again." On a positive note she said she had spoken to the Chief Executive of Invest NI about loan funds for Fermanagh's business sector and had several discussions with OfCom on mobile and broadband service delivery.

"Our devolved government is all about listening to people and making a difference for local people," she said, "I hope we can move forward in a meaningful way that can help us all."