Jobs boost for country as 180 new positions announced
TWO business expansions lead to 180 new jobs being announced yesterday.
US software firm, McAfee, is to create 120 new jobs in Cork thanks to a near-doubling of their internet security operation.
In Carlow, Codd Mushrooms is to expand its plant at Tullow with an investment of €2.5m, increasing its workforce from 73 to 133 by the end of next year.
McAfee Security -- which is based at EastGate in Cork -- is to create the 120 new jobs as part of a major expansion of its in-house sales division.
The firm specialises in the development and sale of internet security programs ranging from anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam systems.
McAfee located their European headquarters in Cork in 2004 and have hailed their Irish operation as a major success.
McAfee director, David Quantrell, said that Ireland fought off competition for the new project from both Barcelona and Berlin.
All 120 new jobs will be filled by next January.
Expand
"By doubling the size of our existing inside sales team we will expand not only our footprint in Ireland but also the scale and sophistication of our operation," he said.
The firm currently has 180 staff at its east Cork base.
The project is supported by the IDA which hailed McAfee as precisely the kind of hi-tech firm required by Ireland's knowledge-based economy.
Tanaiste Mary Coughlan welcomed the McAfee investment and said it was proof that Ireland remained a very attractive base for overseas investment.
"This is a great vote of confidence in Ireland and sets the standard for other organisations and will help to demonstrate how Ireland can contribute to global business," she said.
The firm last year enjoyed sales of €1.6bn thanks to the boom in internet trade and on-line personal banking.
McAfee employ 5,600 staff worldwide.
Codd Mushrooms is set to double the size of its state-of-the-art production facility in Tullow, from 7,000 to 14,000sqm.
Codd Mushrooms founder and managing director Leslie Codd said that the expansion will enable the company to dramatically increase production and achieve greater economies of scale and overall efficiency.
- Ralph Riegel and Conor Kane
