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Updated 15.48
EIGHT FIRMS HAVE unveiled plans to add over 250 jobs in total to their Irish operations – but only a small share of the roles will be based outside Dublin.
One of the local companies, Dublin startup Smarter Surfaces, said it planned to hire 29 staff over the next two years after signing distribution deals worth €6 million for the period.
The four-year-old firm, which designs products that can turn any surface into a functional whiteboard, will recruit international sales and e-commerce staff for an expansion backed by the AIB Seed Capital Fund and Dublin BIC.
Sports retailer Elverys Intersport also plans to add 40 jobs across the country and the company will open a new store at St Stephen’s Green as part of a €1.5 million investment.
The positions will be across the chain’s operations from marketing to e-commerce and retail management.
Foreign investment
Meanwhile, six fast-growing American and European companies today announced they wanted to add 185 new positions as part of an IDA drive to lure early-stage firms in high-tech industries.
One of the tech firms, Massachusetts-based NuoDB today announced it was setting up a new development centre for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in Dublin as well as an office in Belfast.
The five-year-old database management startup plans to hire 50 engineers and tech support workers for its centre in the Republic.
Another three US tech companies, Artisan Infrastructure, DataClarity and Modern Marketing Concepts, announced they were setting up new EMEA headquarters in Dublin.
The firms said they would add a combined total of 90 jobs ranging from engineering and research-and-development roles, to sales and call centre staff.
French fin-tech startup Megatransfert plans to add another 20 developers, engineers and tech support workers in its Dublin office, which the company set up in mid-2014.
Indiana-based medical-device manufacturer CRI was the only one of the companies to announce plans to hire outside Dublin with an extra 25 workers to be hired for its Wexford operations.
Not a failure
Jobs Minister Richard Bruton denied the latest jobs news represented a failure of the government to encourage foreign investment outside the capital.
“Clearly the emerging companies come for certain key technologies and they will go to the centres that will offer them that,” he said.
Different regions build strengths, but you will see in the southeast, which is growing, seeing its strength in pharmaceuticals and medical devices – one of the companies today is going to Wexford and that is an area which we have particularly targeted.”
Last year only 37% of all investment from IDA client companies went to regions outside Dublin and Cork, although that share was up from 30% in 2013.
IDA CEO Martin Shanahan said the agency had a strategy of attracting high-growth companies and many of its clients which started out with “modest plans” had become among the top employers in Ireland.
First published 12.27am
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Everything will be fine people..we have a top man to lead us in to an epidemic..if his credentials are anything to go by we’ll be as safe as a straw house in a tornado.
@Craig Clancy: I did not know he personally went and did all the work in the HSE. No wonder is cracking if only one man doing all
Just cancel it.
@Brian Dunne: Why? If they’re that concerned about it just stop away fans travelling over for it. There is no talk in the UK of cancelling Football matches and they’ve 12 confirmed cases. It’s a nice deflection anyway from the disastrous election the Government had.
@David Garland: that deflection comment has to be one of the most stupid comments I’ve read ever, anywhere. Jesus wept.
@Connoroconner: How is it? It may be a health emergency and the public’s focus has forgotten about the election results already.. Jesus wept at your snowflake reaction
@David Garland: the public has forgotten about the election!!??? I’ll say it again: Jesus wept!
The fallout of the election got wall to wall coverage in all the papers yesterday, all the Sunday morning current affairs shows on radio and the week in politics on RTE TV. Perhaps you have a goldfish memory, but thankfully most people don’t and most people are able to process multiple news events at the same time.
@David Garland: God the intelligents of some people on this site. That statement takes the biscuit all right
@David Garland: dope
@David Garland: One has F A to do with the other
@Connoroconner: Well you know taxi drivers will have their opinions…
Restrict travel from infected areas and enforce screening at all airports and ports. This should be done now before the cat is out of the bag….
@Collie Ennis: it’s probably too late collie it could be here spreading and no ones copped it yet
@Collie Ennis: Given the numbers involved of those likely to become infected and those likely to need intensive care, ventilation etc. How can any Health Service who can’t provide for it’s existing care claim to be ready for this? Have they suddenly found a few hospitals, all kitted out with staff provided, are there 1000 extra beds somewhere? Silly claims.
@Collie Ennis: The airport screenings are only useful in detecting symptomatic cases. There’s growing evidence that a small percentage of people infected do not show any symptoms but are still spreading the virus. If that’s the case, then a global pandemic is pretty much assured. Reading between the lines of statements by various governments and the World Health Organisation the current plan seems to be to try contain the virus for as long as possible to give added time for countries to get their health systems as prepared as possible. The WHO calling for richer countries to donate medical equipment, particularly ventilators, to African nations when there has only been one confirmed case on the African continent (Egypt) is a bit of a clue as to how they see this playing out.
@Collie Ennis: Airport screening doesn’t work. All you can do is measure temperature and that’s very unreliable. There’s more chance it will walk in via an infected person who is still going through the incubation period and far less likely that a person who is already showing symptoms is going to feel like getting onboard an airplane. I’d bet on it already being in the country. The cat was out of the bag when all those people fled Wuhan before the lockdown or returned here after the Chinese New year celebrations.
@Arch Angel: self isolation and hope you don’t die.
There’s people coming and going from here to Italy every day. There’s up to a 14 day incubation period where the carrier may not show symptoms yet be infectious. I’d say it’s mathematically improbable that it’s not here already.
Now that is the face of a man who has everything under control. He’s got this!
@Fergus Murphy: lucky for us he’s only a figure head at times like this, the real decisions are made by experts.
@Fergus Murphy: This is not an issue for attempted political point scoring.
@Connoroconner: Thanks for letting me know
Simon Harris has everything under control. Hes buying a 1000 gallons of flat 7 up and lemsips from the local pound shop
Would a couple of prayers help do u think !!!. The cat was looking at me strange this morning as if seen how much meat was in me and how long he could feast !!!!!
@smart cat: not sure about prayers. Could do with a few players though…
@jamesdecay: true. I cried yesterday
Is there anything to be said for saying another Mass?
@Paul Jude Redmond: I get one said today in the local church
@Paul Jude Redmond: No mass gatherings, that’s what the minister said.
@smart cat: look above. You might catch a joke still flying over you.
Sure every day on a train to work is a mass gathering.
Game should be postponed, surely it’s a no brainer that a mass gathering with supporters from the worst affected country in Europe is a bad idea. Better safe than sorry
Cancel it.
I’m actually afraid ..
But lads, it’ll be grand. Super Simon is on the case. It’ll be another achievement he can be proud if in his time as health minister
Cancel the fecking game. The health of the entire country is more important than a game of rugger.
@Miguel Delgado: play it without a crowd..
Mary Lou will sort it out.
Time to panic buy sliced white bread and lemsips after reading that
I read on RTÉ the shinners are looking to hold a public rally on the 7th march the same day of the Ireland v Italy match. So a perfect storm for mass spreading of the virus with the Italians over in force. SF the same party that wants to run the country not so clever if they intend going ahead with the rally. The only government they’ll run will be from inside a quarantine centre in the RDS.
@Tom Harpur Photography: Italians from affected areas are not allowed to leave their villages, even if they have no symptoms. All the affected people are in a specific area of the country
@Maria Cennerazzo: but have the Italian authorities found patient zero yet no so patient zero could be asymptotic walking around oblivious not knowing he she is a carrier.
Who was he?
He’s listening to advice from the WHO. Yikes!!. They haven’t even declared a pandemic yet. Proactive is not in their vocabulary.
@saoirse janneau: So where should be get his advice on matters of global health, if not from the organisation tasked with coordinating actions relating to global health ?
@Tommy Roche: it’s in 40 countries with massive epidemics in at least 3 now. Eitheopia is still flying plane loads of Chinese in based on WHO reluctance to call it what it is. Africa will be destroyed by this virus. It causes viral pneumonia which leads to hypoxia requiring ventilators. Very few health systems in Africa even have this machinery. This is gross negligence .
@saoirse janneau: Epidemics in 3 countries is not a pandemic. I do actually get what you mean, that countries need to get prepared and the WHO needs to issue strong advice, but declaring a pandemic before there actually is one would help nobody. The WHO have already asked developed nations to help African nations by supplying ventilators, etc, which seems to suggest the WHO are expecting this to become a global pandemic. But say they declared a pandemic today. What country with any kind of sensible government would allow the export of medical equipment such as ventilators to poorer countries when they are likely to need all this equipment for their own citizens. When a global health emergency is declared, as is the case now, it’s means countries getting prepared whilst also helping poorer nations get prepared. When a global pandemic is announced, particularly when the virus is as nasty as this appears to be, then it’s going to be pretty much a case of circling the wagons and looking after your own first.
It’s going to spread globally and it’s going to be like the flu – many will get it every year and some of those with weak immune systems or other frailties will die. Current containment efforts will only spread out the initial peak impact on health systems which is still a good thing, especially since we have that gombeen in charge.
It’s the ancient viruses melting out of the ice and permafrost we need to be worried about.
At least we have a health system, my worry is if it spread to Mumbai in India, that would be horrific, no sanitation and a very poor society! Be thankful for what we have
@Caroline Broadhurst: yes or if it gets to certain states in Africa. I hate when people say we have a third world health system. Compared to other modern states, yes it could be better, but it’s not third world. To say so is an insult to the great staff we have in our hospitals.
What about all the Italian students who are coming in
@Denis Doyle: Cancel the match and the Sinn Fein demonstration. Our lives are more important.
cancel the rugby
I think everyone will be at home sitting that match out.
Cancel the match. Absolutely no reason to take any risk whatsoever.
Did our Buddy Simon mention why there’s a high likelihood we’ll have a confirmed case? Anything to do with it being around the EU summit a few days ago?
Peter Pellegrini has been hospitalised with coronavirus, maybe as a parting gift leo brought some back for us all.
Our medics in our hospitals do a superb job despite the overcrowding on trollies. It isn’t their fault but the fault of successive governments and health ministers. They should have fixed the problems years ago, they knew it would get worse. The HSE bosses wont be able to handle an epidemic they’re have not prepared for such an event
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