Sugar beet plan moves a step closer

A report is to be compiled within the next two weeks on a suitable site in Co Cork for a new sugar processing factory.

Cork County Council officials were asked to provide the report following a recent meeting with members of Sugar Beet Ireland, an organisation committed to bringing sugar production back to this country.

Council officials recently met with Sugar Beet Ireland chairman Michael Hoey and directors Jim O’Regan and Pat Cleary, who are seeking to identify a 200-acre greenfield site for a sugar and ethanol-producing factory.

They requested that the council examine suitable sites east of the Cork-Dublin motorway between the Jack Lynch Tunnel and Mitchelstown.

Mr O’Regan said his organisation has been in discussion with “four or five other local authorities” to set up a factory.

County manager Martin Riordan gave a commitment that potential sites both in public and private ownership would be identified within the next fortnight for consideration by the organisation.