Cork dairy hub vision could create 4,000 jobs by 2020

Academics will deliver a report next Monday showing that Cork is ideally poised to become “a leading dairy industry hub of global significance” with potential to increase dairy exports by €450m and create 4,000 jobs by 2020.

The authors — Declan O’Connor, lecturer and researcher at Cork Institute of Technology’s department of mathematics and Michael Keane of University College Cork — will state that with proper planning and investment, dairy farming in the region can reap significant rewards as a result of the end of the 30 years of EU milk quotas.

After extensive research, they conclude that when the quotas finish next April, “Cork is poised to become the world’s fastest growing developed dairy region over the next decade” and given the already strong dairy base in the county, with proper planning and investment, it is ideally positioned to consolidate its position.