THERE WAS GOOD news on the jobs front in Kilkenny and Waterford this morning, with a total of 200 new roles announced between the two counties.
Of these, 140 will be coming to the newly-created Lighthouse Studios in Kilkenny.
A joint venture between locally-based animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Canadian firm Mercury Filmworks, Lighthouse Studios will focus on 2D animation, with a dash of CGI thrown in.
Development and production projects will commence in the coming weeks, and the company are looking for designers, animators, effects artists, compositors, technical directors, 3D modelers, riggers, lighting and texture artists, and IT administrators.
Cartoon Saloon’s CEO Paul Young said that Ireland enjoys a “number of advantages” in the field of animation, and that the country had a wealth of talent in the area at its disposal.
The company has produced Irish animations such as The Secret of Kells and The Song of The Sea, both of which were nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars in 2010 and 2015, respectively.
Red Hat
Open source software provider Red Hat also had good news on the job front today, investing €12.7 million and committing to the creation of another 60 jobs in Waterford over the next four years.
The company provides services in the areas of big data, cloud computing and online security.
Its Waterford site began as a spin-out from Waterford Institute of Technology in 2014, and acts as the research and development hub for mobile app development for the US-based company.
Red Hat also has offices in Dublin and Cork.
Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O’Connor said the announcement heralded a “great day for Waterford and the south east region.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say