NI, Border firms get £2m

Companies in Border counties and Northern Ireland will benefit from £2 million in funding from the International Fund for Ireland next year to help them engage in new product or process development in co-operation with North American firms.

The RADIAN - Research and Development between Ireland and North America - programme is an extension of the IFI's RADIUS programme, introduced on a pilot basis in 1996. Since then more than £3 million has been allotted to companies in the North and the six Border counties with the aim of promoting and supporting technology-based production, and generating partnerships with US companies. The programme will now broaden its scope to include Canada.

The announcement was made yesterday by the Canadian observer to the board of the IFI, Mr Ted McConnell, as 10 companies were awarded funding for Phase Three of this year's RADIUS project. Mr Jim Lyons, the US observer to the IFI, presented the awards to the successful firms at the Balmoral Conference Centre in Belfast.

Phase Three of the project allocates the most RADIUS funding, with each company receiving a grant of up to £200,000 for implementation of specific projects.

The highest award in the Republic went to RFT Vision Systems based in Dundalk, Co Louth, which is allocated £200,000 to develop a machine vision and artificial intelligence system that will inspect damage to semi-conductor wafers during the manufacturing process. The project runs in association with Identek Corporation in California.

Datacare Computers, based in Monaghan town, was allocated £174,000 to develop a corporate legal database product for the Canadian and US markets with its Toronto-based partner ExperText Systems.

Cora Tine Teo, of Falcarragh, Co Donegal, received £99,000 towards developing an integrated product for weighing and ventilation control of poultry with its US partner Weltech Agri-Data. Dundalk company, Ovelle was awarded £145,000 to bring to market with its US partner, Collaborative Laboratories in New York two new products for the treatment of acne and fungal infections.

Dialogue Systems of Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, received £94,000 to develop a suite of software programmes covering health and safety, quality, risk and event management. Massachusetts company, EnviroBusiness Inc (EBI) is its US partner.

A further five companies in Northern Ireland were awarded total funding to the value of £1 million. They include: Belfast-based Biosyn, which receives £82,500 to develop two diagnostic test kits for the healthcare market in co-operation with Clinical Controls Inc from California; West Belfast-based Delta Print and Packaging, which is receiving £138,543 to develop a bag-in-box packaging system with Graphic Packaging Corporation from Colerado; and FSL Electronics, from Cookstown, which is allocated £79,943 to develop a remote control device for Programmable Logic Controllers with US firm, Rockwell Automation.

The other Northern recipients are Merlin Microwave in Belfast, which gets £155,000 to develop communications circuits with New Jersey-based Merrimac Industries Inc; and West Belfast-based Molecules to Market which receives £200,000 to develop point of care products for the healthcare industry in co-operation with Biomation, Pennsylvania.

Mr Willie McCarter, chairman of the IFI board, congratulated the companies involved in the projects and said that, if they were successful, they would create in excess of 100 new jobs in the region, and help to secure the future of many existing jobs.