IDA bids to stop pharma project moving North

CRUNCH talks are scheduled tonight between IDA Ireland and the backers of an unprecedented multi-billion euro pharmaceutical project who are threatening to abandon plans to set up in Kerry and instead move to the North.

The proposed project reportedly has the potential to create close on 5,000 new jobs.

The promoters have blamed alleged inaction by the state agencies, particularly the IDA.

They say the reaction they have received south of the border was in sharp contrast to the positive response from equivalent agencies in the North.

That claim has been emphatically rejected by a senior IDA official who said the allegations are unhelpful.

The €4.7 billion Global Pharmaceutical Centre of Excellence (GPCE) had been earmarked for Tralee and the project received enthusiastic backing from Kerry’s local authorities, business bodies, community groups and a general public excited by the prospect of almost 5,000 new jobs.

Talks between GPCE and senior IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development officials are scheduled for Tralee tonight.

The first phase of the initiative was to result in four companies creating 282 jobs in Tralee within the next year, with the potential to create a further 1,500 posts in the short to medium term.

But there is consternation in Kerry after the GPCE leaders revealed negotiations with Invest NI, the equivalent of the IDA in the North are at an advanced stage and that the entire project could move to Derry.

It is believed the initial 282 jobs planned for Tralee may have already been lost.

GPCE spokesman, Rory Doyle, claimed the reaction from the state agencies in the North was far more enthusiastic than that received south of the border and the company had little contact with the IDA.

It is understood negotiations broke down over the presentation of a business plan and tensions heightened considerably following a meeting between the two groups in Dublin last Friday week.

Mr Doyle, a senior executive with Cork-based generic drug firm Pharmadel, said he still hopes the Tralee project can be realised but “a hard decision” has to be made within the next three weeks.

It is believed GPCE chiefs privately believe relocation to Derry could now represent the best deal.

Mr Doyle confirmed that even if the Tralee plan were to proceed, at this stage it would more than likely be on a much scaled-down basis.

Sources within the GPCE camp conceded the North’s lure is “very attractive” given the level of support being offered but Kerry will be given every chance to salvage the operation.

“The best deal will win through,” said one project insider.

Kerry-based Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan slated the alleged inaction of the IDA and said there was now a real risk that Tralee will lose out.

“The IDA have not been over-productive when it came to this project. They have never been enthusiastic and have been consistently dismissive of it,” Mr Deenihan claimed.

But the IDA rejected the criticisms, insisting that the agency was open at all times to engage with the GPCE.