Planners have given the go-ahead for a new industrial and business park on a 70-acre site in Downpatrick, the first such development in an area with no industrial base, and no significant private sector employers. The MP for the area, Mr Eddie McGrady, said that the park was long overdue, and would be vital in encouraging inward investors into the area, and would also encourage Northern Ireland companies to consider setting up in the area.

A spokesman for the IDB said that plans for the acquisition of the site, and the development of the first phase would get under way immediately, but that considerable improvements to the local infrastructure would be necessary before the first sites could be developed.