WEST Cork man Jason Whooley, who has been appointed chief executive of Bord Iascaigh Mhara, will have a major role to play in directing the proposed move of its headquarters to Clonakilty.

AS a movement, farming co-ops have had an impact on the Irish economy way beyond what Horace Plunkett could have imagined when he founded the movement in the 19th century.

TOGETHER again, Paddy Murray of ERA Paddy Murray and Co, and Denis Riordan of SWS Property Services, have joined up to sell a farm at Farnalough, Newcestown in Co Cork.

Networked IT services provider Calyx has bought rival Mentec for €16m.

THE former IAWS co-op, One51, is thought to be nearing a takeover of the listed British waste company Augean.

THE fate of South Western Services (SWS) will be known before Christmas. The sale process will be handled by Merrion Capital and all sides are committed to the sale this time.

SWS GROUP is a diversified services venture operation based at Shinagh House, Bandon, West Cork.

PHASE two of the West Cork Business and Technology Park at Clonakilty involving a total investment of €50 million was launched over the weekend by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

IN the second shock departure this week from SWS, deputy chief executive Rose McHugh is leaving the group to manage Merrion Capital’s new Cork office.

THE largest windfarm in Munster was switched on yesterday and will produce enough ‘green electricity’ to power 30,000 homes.

A €20 MILLION national marine headquarters, planned for West Cork as part of the Government’s decentralisation programme, will become an ‘uninhabited, white elephant,’ a trade union official claimed, yesterday.

THE Irish government is preparing to launch a tendering process in the next few weeks for the construction of a €500 million electricity interconnector, linking Ireland with Wales.

A NEW Cork-based company aimed at the renewable energy market is targeting turnover of nearly €10 million this year.

THE Bandon-based SWS Group has reported good progress across its range of businesses in 2005.

SOARING oil prices, environmental concerns and fears about the security of supplies from politically volatile regions such as the Middle East has fuelled increased interest in renewable energy in Ireland.

A TASK force behind one of the country’s most successful regional business and technology parks announced plans yesterday for a challenging target of 1,000 new jobs by 2008.

More than 220 jobs are being created over the next three years in Co Cork as one of the region’s major employers expands its outsourcing sector, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin said.

SWS Group of Bandon has announced a 31% boost to pre-tax profits of €4.2 million on a turnover of €23.8m.

THE sale of property and shares helped hike up profits at the IAWS Co-op by 166% last year.

A TOTAL of 490 new jobs were announced yesterday in Belfast, Cork and the mid-west, while 27 job losses were reported in Fermoy, Co Cork.

THE Government is at an advanced stage in the privatisation of the payment collection and printing systems for penalty points.

The Iseq index finished down 0.91 points on Tuesday to close at 5228.34.

Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society (IAWS) has entered into merger discussions with the Cork-based SWS Group.

THE Government is on the verge of privatising the payment collection system for penalty points.

MORE than 20,000 speeding offences have yet to be processed due to a mounting administrative backlog which gardaí claim could threaten the entire penalty points system.

FOLLOWING the recent articles in the Irish Examiner (April 22 and 24) discussing the lack of development of renewable energy in Ireland, it would be remiss of me as chairperson of the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) not to comment&.

The Government has announced that a Cork based company has been awarded the contract to process the data arising from the new penalty points system.