UP to 1,100 new jobs for Derry will be announced today by computer multinational Seagate Technology. The company employs 950 at its Springtown Industrial Estate plant on the west bank of the city. Construction of the new plant on an adjacent site is expected to start immediately. The two will produce wafer magnetic recording heads for hard disk drives.
Mr John Hume, the local MP who played a key role in bringing Seagate to Derry in 1993, described it as "great news". "This improves the possibility of my dream coming true that the Foyle Valley will become the Silicon Valley of Europe," he said.
Seagate, which employs 108,000 worldwide, also has a plant in Limavady, Co Derry. Some 125 work there and this is expected to increase to 750 next year. Mr Hume said the investment would help attract other multinationals.
Seagate Technology's total investment in Ireland before today's announcement is valued at $200 million. This includes $38 million invested in its Clonmel plant, where 1,500 people are employed.
Derry has one of the highest unemployment rates in the North, at 17 per cent for men and 4 per cent for women.