University of Limerick, Alltech and Byrne Looby Partners announce 340 new jobs

It was a good day for jobs yesterday with the announcement of more than 340 new positions around the country.

A €52 million science and engineering initiative that will create more than 220 new jobs in teaching and construction was officially launched at the University of Limerick (UL).

Elsewhere, animal health business Alltech announced plans for 100 extra jobs at its European headquarters in Co Meath, while engineering firm Byrne Looby Partners said it would create 25 new positions at its Irish offices.

The Bernal Project, which was officially launched by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at UL, is designed to give Ireland the edge in research in the pharmaceutical, biomedical and energy sciences.

Construction jobs
Some 75 long-term research and teaching jobs are to come online and an estimated 150 construction jobs will be created in building the laboratories needed.

The University of Limerick Foundation has committed itself to providing €36 million in philanthropic funding for this project, primarily from Atlantic Philanthropies, the project’s main sponsor with a commitment of €26.3 million.

Animal health business group Alltech said it would create 100 highly-skilled jobs at its European headquarters in Dunboyne following the opening of a new €10 million expansion of the operation. Many of the new jobs will be in marketing and science.

Founded in 1980 by Dr Pearse Lyons, Alltech has more than 3,000 employees in 128 countries.

Engineering

Irish headquartered consulting engineering firm Byrne Looby Partners is to create 25 jobs at its Irish offices and a further 25 overseas as the company seeks to expand its business.

The jobs, which will be created over the next 18 months, include include engineers, project managers, business development and support staff.

Byrne Looby Partners already employs 59 people at its offices in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Belfast, and a further 25 at its seven international offices in the Britain, North Africa and the Middle East.

The jobs at the Irish offices will help support the firm’s international customers.

The company has worked on projects such as the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and the Shard and Heathrow Terminal 2 in London.