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EI diaspora come out in force

This article is from page 4 of the 2013-09-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG

A LARGE crowd turned out in Shannon yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary of EI Electronics. EI, which is the largest indigenous company in the region, celebrates 50 years in business by hosting an open day in its facility inside the Shannon Free Zone.

The Open Day attracted a large crowd of current and former employees and their families, as well as members of the local community and anyone who has been associated with the factory over the past five decades.

An ever-present on the industrial landscape of the Shannon Free Zone, EI Electronics, has been an Irish- owned company since 1988, as is one of the leading employers in the county.

A world leader in the field of fire safety in the home, EI employs 430 people in its Shannon headquarters and an additional 50 in the UK, Germany and France. It plans to swell its workforce by a further 20 staff members before the end of the year to bring its total employee numbers over 500.

Its annual contribution to the local and Irish economies is estimated to be € 30 million.

“As a major employer for 50 years, many thousands of people have worked at EI, covering three generations. This EI diaspora is spread over the counties of Clare, Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Tipperary, Galway and Mayo. The Open Day gives these past employees the opportunity to come back to their alma mater, see the factory and possibly meet up with old colleagues,” said managing director Michael Guinee.

The focal point of the day was a tour of the factory, where a representative sample of the manufacturing will be operational. Visitors saw first hand the world-class manufacturing cell production, the highly automated electronics assembly, and one of the largest injection moulding operations in Ireland.

They will see the wide range of smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms, and learn about the sensor technology behind these products. They will see how the products have evolved over the 50 years.

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