A planning application for a plastics company that has the potential to create 50 jobs in Skibbereen has been lodged with Cork County Council.
A PLANNING application for a plastics company that has the potential to create 50 jobs in Skibbereen has been lodged with Cork County Council.
The application – by Daly Products Ltd – to develop a site at Poundlick, Baltimore Road, Skibbereen, was lodged with Cork County Council on Tuesday, April 4th last.
The application is to construct a two-storey office and laboratory building, as well as two buildings for the production of thermoplastic compounds, a warehouse and storage facilities.
Cork County Council’s decision on the application is due on Monday, May 29th.
Local Fianna Fáil Cllr Joe Carroll welcomed the application saying: ‘If granted, it will be good news for the region because it could create between 40 and 50
jobs in the area.’
In 2015, the parent company – which is based in Minnesota in the US – had expressed an interest in establishing a business in Ireland, particularly West Cork, because the family has connections in Drinagh.
The site at Poundlick was identified, but it subsequently emerged that the IDA-owned location was in the town’s greenbelt and was not zoned for industrial use.
In January 2016, the elected members of the West Cork Municipal District voted to amend the Skibbereen Local Area Plan. They agreed to reduce the town’s green belt by about 2.5 hectares and to increase an adjoining industrial site at Poundlick from 6.2 to 8.7 hectares – but the entire process wasn’t finalised until June.
By agreeing to change the zone from environmental to industrial, the councillors paved the way for the planning application to be submitted.
The company, which manufactures engineered plastics, has 18 manufacturing plants in America and throughout the world, including one each in Germany, France and Mexico, and two in Asia.
Cllr Joe Carroll pointed out that the first factory built at the Poundlick site was Starball, followed by O’Donnell Designs and others. He said a new factory would enhance the site and that the 50 new jobs it would create would do a lot to improve the local economy.
Cllr Mary Hegarty also spoke in support of ‘people who have left Ireland, been successful, and chosen to return to their native soil and invest in its future.’
Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind) acknowledged that the Skibbereen development would involve ‘people with local connections: people who have done well in other countries.’ And Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF) said: ‘Initiatives like this deserve our support. We should be making it easier for investors to do business in West Cork.’
