Firm promises 60 jobs for Galway

A French manufacturing company will create 60 jobs over the next five years in a £7 million (€8.89 million) investment in Ballinasloe, Co Galway. Valois SA of Le Neubourg, France, a market leader in dispensing systems for the pharmaceutical, perfumery and cosmetic industries, will provide the jobs. The firm has an Irish base, Caideil MP Teoranta in Tourmakeady, Co Mayo, which employs 80 people and is supported by Udaras na Gaeltachta.

The Minister of State for Technology and Commerce and Galway East TD, Mr Noel Treacy has welcomed confirmation of a new Ballinasloe factory. Ballinasloe has been badly hit by the announcement earlier this year that pen manufacturer AT Cross intends to cut its workforce. An industrial dispute involving SIPTU has also been running at the Dubarry shoe factory this week. Valois is buying a site at IDA Ireland's new business park in the town, and will construct a 40,000 sq ft customised facility.

Mr Treacy paid tribute yesterday to the work of the Ballinasloe Inter Agency Group set up in February under the chairmanship of Mr Tom Hyland, area director for IDA Ireland, to try to find new employment for the town.

Valois SA was founded in Paris in 1947 and is now a subsidiary of the Aptar Group of Illinois, US, a leading global supplier of pumps, dispensing closures and aerosol valves for a variety of applications. Valois SA employs 1,700 people at three plants in France, and in finishing operations in the US, Brazil and China.