Cork Seagate plant `on hold' for 6 months

Computer hard-disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technologies has reassured the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, that its 1,000-job £150 million proposed development for Cork will not be cancelled and is just on hold for six months. The Tanaiste spoke to Seagate executives while leading an Irish Trade Board mission to California's Silicon Valley this week.

"It's just a six-month postponement," the Tanaiste told The Irish Times while in Santa Clara. "They were very reassuring in that area." Early last month, Seagate announced it would put the IDAbacked project due to be located in Ringaskiddy on hold due to worldwide weakness in the market for hard-disk drives.

Leading a group of eight Irish technology companies, the Tanaiste met key representatives from technology powerhouses like Netscape, Intel, and HewlettPackard.

In an address to a gathering of Irish technology companies, their guests, and a scattering of senior executives from Silicon Valley companies, she advocated Ireland as the European location of choice for inward technology investment.

Shed be on call for further missions on a ["]need to come basis["], told The Irish Times: "Many of the companies we're talking to are companies who are in Ireland and who are seeking to expand." She noted that Irish companies have reached the point where they are ready to compete with the Americans on their own turf. With 400 indigenous software companies generating £750 million in exports, "the sector has to look beyond Ireland if they are to expand. Now we have the capability to come into these markets".

Ms Harney's presence during the week was the linchpin of the Trade Board's five- day visit to Silicon Valley, one of two missions it leads to the US on behalf of Irish technology companies each year. The missions focus on the technology-rich regions of California and Massachusetts.

"We believe Irish companies have very competitive, high quality technology products to sell over here," said Ms Anne Fitzpatrick, vice-president, industrial products at the Irish Trade Board.

The board works with small groups of Irish companies which wish to target the US market, arranging introductions and meetings between potential Irish and US partners. During the week in California, each Irish company organised meetings with an average of 10 American companies.

"Thirty per cent of those will convert into business in the short term," said Ms Fitzpatrick. The rest typically will develop into business relationships over the long term, she added.

One of the companies included in the mission, Dublin software localisation company, Clockworks International, found the structured format of arranged meetings to be more productive than trying to network at trade shows. "This tends to be more focused," said chief executive officer Mr PJ King. s clients are almost entirely non-Irish *SDA either multinationals located in Ireland, or companies abroad.

TDP, a Dublin company which provides technical documentation and on-line help systems to software companies, also found the Silicon Valley mission useful, and had two verbal agreements with US companies after two days of meetings.

Like Clockworks, it provides a service which can be conducted across country boundaries.

"It's a bigger market over here, and we wanted to expand," said company co- director Mr Tony Cullen.

Along with his business partner Mr Jim Cullen, Mr Tony Cullen found the mission useful for setting up initial contacts. "Once we get in the door, we have no problem selling, but it's getting the foot in the door," he said. Mr Jim Cullen said that on the basis of their visit to Silicon Valley, they would probably open an office in the area in the coming year.