Two firms announce 220 new Irish jobs

EMPLOYMENT:A TOTAL of 220 new jobs in Co Wicklow and Co Donegal were announced yesterday.

Healthcare manufacturer Nypro Ireland said that it would create 150 new jobs in Bray and packaging group RA Pacáistí Teo (RAP) added 70 new jobs to its operation in Gaoth Dobhair.

Nypro Ireland will produce needle-free syringes for a US pharmaceutical company at its redeveloped manufacturing facility in Bray, where it already employs 25 people. The new jobs will be added over the next four years.

The expansion represents a $10 million (€7.4 million) investment in Ireland by Nypro, which first opened an Irish operation in 1980. It has global revenues of $1.3 billion (€955 million) and has customers such as 3M Healthcare, Schering Plough, Bausch and Lomb and Boston Scientific.

The new facility was opened by Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche yesterday.

Meanwhile, RAP has made a €3.3 million investment at its base in the Gaoth Dobhair business park.

Some 27 of the jobs will be in place by the end of 2009, with the remainder being created by the end of 2011.

The jobs will facilitate RAP's launch of three new packaging lines aimed at the European food-on-the-go market.

Its investment was made with the support of Údarás na Gaeltachta, the authority charged with spurring economic, social and cultural development in Irish-speaking areas.

The authority's chief executive, Pádraig Ó hAoláin, said that RAP's "substantial" investment in Co Donegal was welcome news at a time of difficult national and global economic conditions.