The east Cork town of Youghal was dealt its second major tech jobs blow in months after Technicolour Home Entertainment decided last night to close its facility there with the loss of 243 jobs.
The company, which manufactures compact disks, said that due to market and competitive pressures it needed to rationalise its European facilities and cited “remoteness from the UK market” as a further reason for closing down the 120,000 sq ft facility.
The closure of the facility, which changed hands from Eastman Kodak only last year, is the second recent major jobs blow for Youghal. Shortly before Christmas telecoms firm Artesyn Technologies decided to close its manufacturing facility in the town with the loss of 160 jobs.
The news is a further blow for the entire east Cork region, which has had to contend with the closure of Youghal Carpets and Irish Steel in the past year.
A spokesman for IDA Ireland said that the agency has been working closely with Youghal’s Chamber of Commerce to make the town attractive for inward investment and that it will start marketing the vacant Technicolour plant once it is fully vacated in the summer time.
The spokesman added that IDA Ireland has been working hard to find replacement investment projects for the region over recent months and has met with considerable success in the face of a tough economic climate. “We have succeeded in attracting six new IDA-supported investments for the east Cork region that will result in 700 new jobs coming on stream in the coming months.”
By John Kennedy
