The Government has approved two major industrial projects for Co Cork which between them will create 1,150 new jobs.
The jobs result from an expansion by the German company, Kostal and the establishment of a shared services centre by the ship operator, Sea-Land Service Inc.
Kostal will create 850 jobs in Mallow over the next seven years while SeaLand's centre in the Cork Business Park will create 300 jobs over a three-year period. The jobs announcement is the largest made in Co Cork so far this year and was described as a "major boost for the Cork region" by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney yesterday.
IDA Ireland said the jobs in Mallow were particularly welcome as there had been several closures in the town in recent years, including the electronics company, Mitsumi.
An IDA spokesman said the jobs are part of efforts by the State agency to attract investment away from the cities to smaller regional towns.
Kostal, which set up in the Republic in 1981, manufactures electronic systems for cars, such as window-lift controllers and rain sensors. It is also involved in automated board insertion, tool design and manufacture, plastic injection and product assembly.
The IDA estimates that 60 per cent of those being recruited will be third-level graduates. A wide range of jobs will be on offer, ranging from technical engineering to assembly-line positions.
Kostal already operates a plant in Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick employing more than 1,000 people and the plant in Mallow will be operated by the same management team.
The company is spending a total of £75 million - £40 million of this will be invested in Mallow and the remainder will go towards updating the plant in Abbeyfeale.
The company will build the new plant in Mallow on a 23-acre greenfield site on the outskirts of the town. The site was acquired in the last two weeks.
The land still needs to be re-zoned for industrial use and the plant will need planning permission. Presuming these are secured quickly, the company expects to start building the new plant in May and will start recruiting some time in 2000.
The second job creation project, SeaLand will be located at Cork city's new business park near the airport. Sea-Land is setting up a back office which will handle all the administration for its European operations. It will create up to 300 jobs within three years.
The Cork centre is being set up as part of a strategy to centralise European operations. Sea-Land currently operates these services on a local office basis across Europe and the centralisation is regarded as a major priority to improve productivity and enhance customer service.
If the first phase of the project is considered successful, the company expects to expand further. It chose Cork from 12 possible locations.
Sea-Land is based in North Carolina in the US, and employs more than 9,100 people. It operates 99 container ships and around 220,000 containers servicing 120 ports in 80 countries.
It had sales of $4 billion (£2.6 billion) last year. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSX corporation, a public company founded in 1980 and the third largest railroad company in the US.
