Topaz to create 100 new jobs

Fuel and convenience retailer Topaz is to create 100 new jobs in Carlow and Laois as part of an €8 million investment in new motorway service stations.

The new service stations will be located at junction 3 on the Dublin-Cork motorway (M8) near Ballacolla, Co Laois and at junction 5 on the Dublin-Waterford motorway (M9) in Co Carlow.

Work on the 600 square metre site in Co Laois will begin in January and is expected to be completed by July 2014.

A planning application has been submitted for the Carlow site and construction there is expected to start next summer.

Some 200 people will be employed during the construction phase of both sites, while 100 full time jobs would be created once the sites are operational, Topaz said.

“We have an excellent motorway network in Ireland now but there is a shortage of service areas and we want to address that. We see both these sites as being a vital rest and refueling stops for motorists travelling between Dublin and Cork and Dublin and Waterford,” Paul Candon of Topaz said.

He said an estimated 10,000 motorists use both motorways every day.