News of plans to create 491 jobs overshadowed by losses

THE two faces of the Irish economy were in full show yesterday as plans to create as many as 491 new jobs over the coming years were overshadowed by 391 people being told they are now surplus to requirements.

On the same day as 351 workers in Dublin, Shannon and Athlone were told to join the growing dole queues, Government officials were at pains to emphasise the positive employment news.

Among them was Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who last night greeted the announcement of a new €40 million bio-mass plant in Rhode, Co Offaly, as a “shining example of the tangible benefits that the smart economy can bring”.

Construction on the development by Irish green energy firm Biotricity will begin early next year and will provide employment to 200 people during the construction phase and 65 full-time jobs when the plant opens.

“This is good news for the environment and it is good news for local jobs,” Mr Cowen said of the site, which will be powered by the supply of willow grown by Irish farmers, and produce enough energy for 5,000 homes.

A further 120 jobs have also been created at computer manufacturing giant Hewlett Packard’s high- tech enterprise division in Dublin — 50 of which are available immediately.

The additional 70 positions, however, are dependent on whether Ireland can provide enough candidates with a working knowledge of French, German and Italian.

Speaking on RTÉ, HP Ireland’s managing director Martin Murphy said similar future developments are almost entirely dependent on Government creating a clearly defined employment plan with business leaders.

Separately, another 25 new positions have been announced at pre-paid phone network Just Mobile, with the potential for up to 70 jobs becoming available within the next two years.

In addition, Irish social web-search start-up company HeyStaks is planning to increase its staff levels to over 40 by the end of 2013.

In Athlone, drug’s firm Elan has announced 22 redundancies which will be implemented by the end of this year at its 400-strong Monksland plant.

A similar scenario is also likely for employees of Laura Ashley’s flagship store on Grafton Street in Dublin.

Union representatives for the interior store’s workers have confirmed they will go on strike from today as the firm has refused to offer more than the statutory redundancy when it closes its doors.