Cork is set for a jobs boost today with the announcement that up to 170 jobs will be created in the city and county.
This includes some 73 jobs in Macroom where a new start-up Irish company is to invest €16 million in a specialist facility.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin is to announce details of investments in Cork city and Midleton as well as Macroom where a new company, Eirebloc Ltd, will establish a manufacturing plant.
Over the next three years Eirebloc is to invest €16 million to manufacture composite pallet blocks from recycled wood, using environmentally sustainable methods and in the process create 73 new jobs.
Mr Martin welcomed an initial investment of €6 million by Eirebloc, which has been supported by Enterprise Ireland, and pointed out that the new company is a joint venture between two Cork companies, Mid Cork Pallets Ltd and Palfab Ltd.
"Both companies have strong track records of commercial success and this substantial investment is a significant endorsement for Macroom - not only will it create 73 high-value jobs, it will also lead to significant spin-off economic benefits for the region," he said.
Enterprise Ireland's manager of regional development Richard Murphy said that while Eirebloc is operating in a traditional sector, it will have a sustainable competitive advantage through innovation and technology acquisition.
"Using recycled wood as a raw material, Eirebloc will become one of a small number of European producers of an advanced pallet component, for which demand is steadily growing in European markets.
Eirebloc Ltd director Seán Lehane said that the company's composite pallet block product offers significant advantages over its sawn-wood counterpart, including unit weight, moisture content, hygiene, nail retention and unit cost which will give it a competitive edge in the international market.
Fellow company director Donal O'Callaghan said the joint venture would result in a valuable pool of knowledge and expertise, and highlighted the importance of closer working ties between wood-based industries in the region.
"Eirebloc's raw material will be sourced within a relatively local radius of the factory and our procurement policy will dovetail neatly with Cork City Council's environmental and materials re-use models. Overall, the project will be environmentally benign, with a low carbon footprint and no requirement to fell trees," he added.
The announcement will be particularly welcome in Macroom which suffered a series of employment disappointments in the past six years. These began in 2001 with the closure of American owned multinational General Semi-Conductors Ireland (GSI), with the loss of 670 jobs.
In the wake of that collapse, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern promised that American pharmaceutical company Elan would move into the former GSI plant on the outskirts of the town and create some 300 jobs, but the move never materialised.
In 2003, Macroom suffered another jobs blow when the long established family owned Neville's Bakery, which supplied bread to Dunnes Stores, announced that it was closing with the loss of some 50 jobs.
In 2004, Delta Homes began leasing the former GSI plant where it employed 75 people and it was expected that the company would move to increase numbers to 300. However, in September 2006 the company announced it was to close with immediate effect with the subsequent loss of 180 jobs.