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There was great excitement delight of their supporters on Monday, with the and all of North County announcement that Skerries Dublin, they triumphed. was named as the overall It was an eventful day for all winner of the National Tidy contenders from the North Towns competition. In the County as all of our entrants process, they increased their comfortably exceeded their points tally from 321 to 327, scores from last year, with a whopping jump of 6 points Malahide, up four points and from last year. In doing so, Skerries retaining their Gold they also won the Tidiest Medal status. Last year’s Large Town award. Skerries surprise package, Lusk, were is the second winner of this up an impressive seven prestigious competition from points, retaining their Bronze the North County, after Medal. They also had their Malahide were victorious in Skerries Tidy Town's Committe members Anne Duggan, Maeve McGann, Anne Doyle hard working volunteer, (Chairperson) and Martina Grogan pictured after collecting the National Tidy Town's Albert Cruise nominated in 1990. award at The Helix on Monday Pandemonium erupted in the the Community Heroes Helix Theatre, when Skerries was announced as Award. Swords, who were appearing at this stage the overall winner. Maeve McGann and of the competition for the first time improved their Chairperson of Skerries Tidy Towns committee, score by four points. Anne Doyle were over the moon as they made their A special word of thanks and praise is well and way to the stage through a sea of wellwishers. truly deserved for our wonderful Tidy Towns About half an hour previously, they ascended the committees and their marvellous volunteers, who stage to collect the award for Ireland’s Tidiest have brought honour, and a sense of absolute Large Town. After winning this award, suddenly anything is possible. pride to the North County. See our special feature in next week’s They were up against previous winners in the top award, but, to the edition of the paper.
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27th September 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 33 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Friday last, 23rd September was a great day for Balbriggan, when Belgian pharma company, Alter Pharma opened up its new HQ at Stephenstown Industrial estate. The new 48,000 sq ft headquarters will create a further 80 jobs bringing total employment to the new plant to 120 by 2018.
By Patrick Finnegan Alter Pharma CEO, Pieter Van Rompay was joined by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor and staff from its sister site in Belgium, as well as local representatives at the opening ceremony, including local TD, Alan Farrell, Senator James Reilly, Cllr Tony Murphy and President of Balbriggan Chamber, Luke Moriarty. Mr Van Rompay told the County Leader, “This is a great day for us in such a wonderful facility that will help us to grow and develop. We started in Ireland with just a handful of employees four or five years ago and we are very happy with the business environment, so we decided to invest further. Not only is it the opening of our new facility, it is also the start of something which will continue and that is growth and our desire to grow as a company and this facility will help us with this goal,” he said. “Opening our new €5 million facility
underlines our commitment to Ireland and will allow for our rapid expansion plans. We look forward to continuing to grow our excellent team here to complement our product portfolio,” he said. Local senator, Dr James Reilly welcomed the 80 new jobs for Balbriggan. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Reilly said. “This is a major boost to Balbriggan and signals a bright future for the town. Balbriggan has often felt left behind by the rest of Dublin, but this is certainly a step in the right direction. It’s especially good to see hi-tech companies like Alter Pharma move here, because that’s where the future is. I know that there are also other global hi-tech companies currently looking to set-up in the area. ‘’It’s great to see big companies in flagship industries realising the potential of North County Dublin and coming to create jobs here. We have the infrastructure, the location and the skilled workforce that hi-tech companies like Alter Pharma need. You can see that with Diana and Mari Louise from Loreto Secondary School who came third at the EU contests for Young Scientists this year. We’re close to the airport, the motorway network and to Northern Ireland, which is ideal.” He concluded, ‘’We need to push on and keep
marketing ourselves as a great place to come and set up business. As Seanad spokesperson on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation that’s just what I’m going to do. We are being successful so far which is demonstrated by the unemployment figures in Balbriggan which are down by 11.5 per cent in the last year.’’ The good news was welcomed by CEO of Fingal Dublin Chamber, Tony Lambert who said, “Alter Pharma’s opening of the headquarters for its worldwide operation in Balbriggan is a major boost for the area. The additional 80 jobs will be very welcome. This, hopefully, is the start of a number of exciting announcements for jobs in North County Dublin. Fingal is now one of the major pharma and bio-pharma centres in the country and this announcement is another major boost for the area,” he said. Pictured at the official opening of Alter Pharma at Stephenstown Industrial Estate, Balbriggan are, Senator James Reilly, Tom O'Leary, Rita Crowley (Alter Pharma), Pieter Van Rompay (Managing Director, Alter Pharma), Alan Farrell TD, Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, Barry Heavey (IDA), Stijn Van Rompay (Alter Pharma), Thomas Jacobson (Alter Pharma), Luke Moriarty (President Balbriggan Chamber of Commerce) and Cllr Tony Murphy