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GE Healthcare opens new €30.5M Manufacturing Line Cork Hotel Group wins big at Hospitality Awards

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath T.D. officially opened a new €30.5 million ($30 million) manufacturing line at GE Healthcare’s Carrigtohill, Co. Cork facility. The new line, which has created 140 jobs, manufactures injectable diagnostic imaging agents (contrast media) used in Xray and Computed Tomography (CT) procedures around the world. The growing global prevalence of chronic disorders has driven significant growth in CT procedures, leading to increased demand for iodinated contrast media, used to enhance visualization of organs, blood vessels and tissues across disease pathways. It is estimated that the new manufacturing line will increase production capacity at the Cork facility by over 50 percent by 2025. Eugene Barrett, GE Healthcare Ireland Site Leader, who leads the 765 strong team at the Cork facility, said, “We have a great team here in Cork focused on supplying for our customers and their patients. Next year marks our 30-year anniversary of production and this new production line is central to our continued growth.”

Kevin O’Neill, President & CEO GE Healthcare Pharmaceutical Diagnostics; Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath T.D; Eugene Barrett, Site Lead, GE Healthcare; Tanya O’Sullivan, QA Analyst and Michael Lohan, Head of Life Sciences IDA Ireland at the opening. Picture: Darragh Kane Cork’s Trigon Hotels is celebrating its success at the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI) annual awards. The hotel group had six team members shortlisted for awards last night), taking home three wins. Megan Pardy, Julie Daly and Catherine O’Mahony were named overall winners at a black-tie event. The Irish Hospitality Institute is the professional body for the Hospitality and Tourism Industry in Ireland. The annual Hospitality Management Awards recognise individuals for their commitment and professionalism to their work and are judged by a panel of senior industry figures. There were 59 finalists across 13 award categories with Cork’s Trigon Hotels represented in six categories. Catherine O’Mahony, Food and Beverage Trainer at Cork International Hotel was named Hospitality Employee of the Year. Megan Pardy, Digital Marketing Manager, Trigon Hotels was named Sales and Marketing Manager of the Year. Julie Daly, Finance Manager, Trigon Hotels was named Finance Manager of the Year.

Conference Ambassadors Honoured A cool move to HVO by Cool Running Events

Cork Convention Bureau hosted its annual Cork Conference Ambassador Awards in Castlemartyr Resort to pay tribute to 68 ambassadors who brought over 40 business events, from symposiums to large international conferences and global summits, with an estimated 9,000 delegates to Cork in 2022, 80% of whom were international visitors. The value is estimated to be worth €14.4 million to the local economy. Events hosted in Cork in 2022 ranged in size, with some attracting large numbers. The European Dairy Farmers EDF Annual Congress and the Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting both attracted over 350 delegates each. Almost one in four of the events that Cork Convention Bureau supported were health related, which is testament to the high calibre of medical study taking place on Cork campuses, laboratories, and hospitals around the city, and Cork’s position as a centre for pharma excellence. According to Failte Ireland, Cork continues to get the greatest share of conferences in Ireland outside of Dublin, representing approximately 20% of the regional value of events. Cork Convention Bureau has confirmed that they already have €3.5 million worth of conference business in the pipeline for the next two years. In a cool move, Cool Running Events, the event management company behind Cork’s Alpine Skate Trail and Ice Rink, and Ice Skating Blanchardstown, is pleased to announce a move to environmentally friendly fuel, HVO, to power its rinks this festive season. HVO, or Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, is a new and superior type of biodiesel made from biological material, making it one of the cleanest, greenest fuels on the market. Switching to HVO was a decision made by Cool Running Events in line with company efforts to reduce local emissions and CO2. As a drop-in fuel it will be used to power the generators at both sites. Speaking at the announcement of the move to HVO, Orla O’Neill, Creative Director at Cool Running Events, said “Our transition to HVO will positively impact our carbon performance immediately. We estimate a 90% reduction of CO2 emissions this festive season in Cork and Dublin. While moving to HVO brings a significant cost increase over traditional fuel, we are absorbing this cost and not passing it on to our customers as we feel the business, and not the customers are responsible for the carbon performance of the event. This adoption is an important milestone in our mission to be more environmentally friendly; and we will continue to monitor new technologies and innovation to ensure we are at the forefront of clean and efficient sustainable solutions for all our facilities.”

Pictured at Cork’s Alpine Skate Trail at Fota House and Gardens, announcing their move to environmentally friendly fuel, HVO, to power Cool Running Events’ rinks are Orla O’Neill, Creative Director, Cool Running Events with Amy Rodway, Justin O’Carroll and Connor Farrell.

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EY Cork host Entrepreneur of the Year Retreat

EY hosted a delegation of 15 business leaders from Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland as part of their EY Entrepreneur of the Year Retreat. These business leaders spent time in Ireland meeting with some of the country’s best known entrepreneurs discussing how our regions could work best together.

Roger Wallace Entrepreneur of the Year Programme Lead, EY Ireland, Suwin Lee, EY Private Lead, EMEA ,EY, John Higgins, Partner Lead, EY Cork, Michael McGrath Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform , Ronan Murray, Cork Chamber President, Monika Gulyas Programme Director, EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany and Wolfgang Glauner, Family Enterprise Markets Leader, EY Germany .

Celebration of start-ups at IGNITE awards

The winners at IGNITE were Nternz, a professional social network platform for students to connect with careers and companies; RecruitRoo providing access to global talent, building solutions that reduce friction of screening, migration and onboarding; FemToFire a technology platform to help assess and locate fire risks within forests and SimpleScents Ireland’s first ever fragrance subscription service.

Ignite graduates Stephen MacCarthy, Niall Brennan, Louis Walsh and Paddy O’Toole at UCC. Picture: Joleen Cronin

Stars are coming out

The Marymount Hospice Ball returned for its 14th year to kick off the Christmas season in Cork. The event gets bigger each year, and continues to maintain and attract strong sponsorship from main event sponsors - Keanes Jewellers, Musgrave and Heineken. The further generous sponsorship of auction prizes is worthy of mention. With a trip to Richard Branson’s Necker Island and a First Pitch at World Series Baseball Game as provided by the owner of World Series Champions Houston Astros causing a buzz of excitement throughout the room.

Granite acquires Continuum

Granite Digital has announced the acquisition of Continuum. As the largest digital agency in Ireland, Continuum was chosen by Granite Digital to help spearhead growth in the Irish enterprise sector. Following the acquisition, Granite expects to grow their revenues to over €10M this year. The acquirement of Continuum will also allow Granite Digital to significantly scale its business globally, adding over 100 Continuum clients from across Ireland, the UK, US, South America and Asia.

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Logitech open new office in Mahon

Logitech International and JCD Group hosted a ceremony to mark the opening of a new sustainable office building at City Gate Plaza in Mahon, Cork. This new office in Cork highlights Logitech’s leadership in reshaping the new logic of hybrid work and sets Logitech as a benchmark for sustainability. The space’s human-centred design emphasises the company’s sustainability-focused business approach. Creating an inspiring workplace in Cork through sustainability, including waste reduction, healthy work environment, and innovation, is a reflection of Logitech’s purpose and mission. Bracken Darrell, Logitech’s president and chief executive officer, who said. “Cork has long been a key site for Logitech, home to a diverse range of talents in design, engineering, product development, supply chain, sustainability, and business support functions. Our new Cork offices have been designed with a hybrid-first mindset, redefining how a workplace supports its teams with a variety of collaboration spaces that foster inclusivity and innovation. They are also sustainable and flexible, helping our teams be creative and productive, so in turn they can contribute more to the communities in which they live. Since its establishment, our Cork office has prioritised sustainability across all practices, while ensuring it is a place of inspiration, collaboration, and well-being for all. We’re very grateful to IDA Ireland for their consistent support over the years.

11 year old Molly Daly from Cork with Dónal Travers, Global Head of Tech IDA Ireland, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Dara Calleary TD, Bracken Darrell, President & CEO Logitech and Anne Carrigy, CIO Logitech at the official opening of the Logitech new state of the art facility in City Gate 2 Mahon, Cork. Photo Darragh Kane

Ballymaloe Foods and Mama Bear Foods join forces

Ballymaloe Foods has successfully completed its first business acquisition, by acquiring Mama Bear Foods. The deal was finalised by sisters, Maxine and Rosaleen Hyde of Ballymaloe Foods, and Loretta Kennedy, the founder of Mama Bear Foods. Mama Bear Foods produces a range of healthy ketchups and pasta sauces for the family while Ballymaloe Foods is famous for its relish and award-winning condiments. The three mums will work together to grow the Mama Bear Foods business and expand the range of healthy and family-friendly products. Maxine Hyde, co-director of Ballymaloe Foods said: “‘As mums with young families we are concerned about the lack of Irish made, healthy snack and food options for young children. We love Loretta’s concept and existing products and decided we would like to be a part of the next chapter of Mama Bear foods. We really look forward to working with Loretta.” Mama Bear Foods is already available in many Irish supermarkets including SuperValu, Dunnes Stores and Aldi. The brand will remain the same while Ballymaloe Foods will help to promote the Mama Bear Foods business and grow the brand nationally.

Rose Callaghan and Maxine Hyde of Ballymaloe Foods with Loretta Kennedy, Mama Bear Foods. Picture: Clare Keogh