A Direct Provision centre run by a company whose €1.37m in borrowings were sold by Nama to a subsidiary of a so-called vulture capital fund company has closed down after claims that management failed to meet health and safety standards.

The enterprise minister announced 150 new IT jobs in Cork yesterday as the live register fell below 400,000 for the first time since May 2009.

The 1,000 jobs created in Cork in the past month show how the city “has become a much more competitive location” than Dublin, according to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney.

SERVICING an online gaming company that does $3.5bn of annual transactions has made jobs growth at Cork IT specialist Xanadu a one-way bet.