The official opening today of the Prumerica Systems Ireland programming and technological development centre in Letterkenny is being heralded by the IDA as the dawn of a new era for the IT sector in Co Donegal.
A subsidiary of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, the centre will employ 75 people by the end of the year and 150 by the middle of 2001. Situated in the town's IDA Office Park, it will initially focus on developing technology-based solutions to support the parent company's life assurance business. Prudential has more than 17 million customers.
Unemployment levels in Co Donegal are three times the national average and IDA Ireland has been under pressure to attract investment to this geographically-disadvantaged region.
"The arrival of Prumerica is a major coup for the region and puts Donegal on the technological map as a location for prestigious companies," said the IDA's regional manager, Mr Joe McHugh. He pointed out the importance of the Institute of Technology in the town as a marketing tool, and it is expected that the company will announce a formal link-up with the third-level institution.
Mr McHugh expects that further foreign investment in the IT sector in the region will follow. Planning permission is being sought for three advance buildings in the office park, while work is nearing completion on an advance factory unit at the nearby 27-acre Letterkenny Business Park.
Last year, another American company, PacifiCare, opened a medical health insurance processing facility in the business park. The IDA, which has set a target of creating 50 per cent of all new jobs in the BMW (Border, Midlands and Western) regions, has also acquired 80 acres of land from the North-Western Health Board on the outskirts of the town. Land has also been bought in Buncrana and planning permission has been sought for an advance factory in Ballyshannon.
"Donegal is still a priority location and we have a very extensive building programme under way. Our success will depend greatly on the success of companies that are already here", Mr McHugh explained.
The quality of life and the availability of a skilled workforce were major factors in Prumerica's decision to locate in Letterkenny. According to its managing director, Mr Paul Carmody, many of the new employees are relocating from elsewhere in the State. Some 74 per cent of those already given contracts have origins or ties in the Donegal/Sligo/Derry region.
Letterkenny has its attractions for those moving to work there: the average price of a new three-bedroomed semi-detached house is still well below £100,000; the town has a rapidly expanding retail base and a thriving social scene; and the countryside and beaches are a short drive away.
A business park and leisure complex that could create up to 1,000 jobs is planned for the outskirts of Donegal town by a consortium of businessmen from within the county.
The £35 million development, on over 26 acres of prime land, would incorporate a 100-bedroom hotel, 30 apartments, leisure and conference facilities, 30 private housing units, a retail park, an e-commerce business park, warehouses, a cinema and water sports facilities.
The site, which was bought by the consortium at public auction for more than £1.7 million some months ago, is on the Mountcharles road. Solicitor for the group Mr Diarmuid Barry, of D.P. Barry & Co, told The Irish Times the architects were completing their work and a planning application is to be lodged with Donegal County Council in the coming months.
"The architects are currently working on the planning stages and we'd hope to have the planning application submitted to Donegal County Council before Christmas at the latest," he said.
"When work begins, we'd expect that it would take over a year to complete."