This article is from page 3 of the 2008-06-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THE LOSS of connectivity with Hea- throw is being part-blamed for the loss of 48 jobs at Shannon.
Buffalo Technology has reported the unfeasibility to serve its market- place from its location in Shannon as one of the reasons that it had to an- nounce closure at the weekend.
Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said that there is “little doubt that this “unfea- sibility’ is due to the rising cost of
doing business in Ireland. A further consideration for the Shannon region is the loss of the Shannon-Heathrow service last year which is a consider- able obstacle when attempting to at- tract new investment to the area.”
A spokesman for SIPTU said that while it does not have members among the workers who are losing their jobs “this would seem to show that all the uproar about the loss of the Shannon Heathrow route was not a fuss abut nothing”.
Buffalo Technology Ireland as- sembles, tests and distributes devices used for storing information.
The company said its Irish business had made losses in the past two years and it was no longer feasible to serve its marketplace from its location in Shannon.
Buffalo said the main markets for its products were concentrated in the UK, Germany, Nordic countries and southern Europe, while it was also developing in Eastern Europe and
the Middle East. The company said it had started talks with workers on redundancy packages and was also consulting Shannon Development on the closure.
A spokeswoman for Shannon De- velopment confirmed they had been talking to the company but said she could not make any further comment ZIM MOV B DON LSS
Deputy Joe Carey called for im- mediate action from the Government to maintain Irish competitiveness in
the manufacturing and technology sector, following the announcement of the expected closure of Shannon- based technology company.
“Unfortunately the announced clo- sure of this plant 1s evidence that Ire- land has a huge issue maintaining its competitive edge, allowing an exodus of good jobs to international mar- kets as a result. The statistics show that Ireland has dropped from fourth place to 22nd in international com- petitiveness,’ he said