News that Boston Scientific would be providing more than 1,000 new jobs - at the Model Farm Road Technology Park - was greeted warmly in Cork last evening. Mr Noel O'Flynn, the Fianna Fail TD in whose constituency the jobs will be provided, said he was ecstatic.
"This is just what Cork needed and it shows what it means to have a Minister sitting at the Cabinet table," he said.
"We already have the National Microelectronics Centre - now we have a new Institute of Technology. We already had Cork University College - and the quality of the graduates coming from these institutions is quite clearly the attraction for major companies such as Boston Scientific. The company will be providing quality jobs in Cork. It is great news for the city and I call on all politicians in Cork to work together now so that we can achieve even more."
Mr Frank Boland, a former president of the Cork Chamber of Commerce, said the jobs announcement was a fantastic boost for Cork.
"It is a quality company - there will not be any environmental worries for the city - this company will be environmentally clean and high paying. It is a great shot in the arm for Cork. Success breeds success, and once you have a company of this stature in situ it helps to attract similar companies.
"It is a great day for the IDA. Any country in Europe would welcome such a company, but already Boston Scientific had - with good results - a presence in Ireland, namely in Galway, and the fact that our economy is doing so well has paved the way for this new investment," Mr Boland said.
Mr Dan Wallace, the Minister of State, said that while no official announcement had yet been made: "It seems like a fantastic project - one that will make Cork proud - and it has great potential for job creation in the city." Mr Wallace said he had noted that the initial 1,000 jobs might be matched in the future by at least as many.
It is understood that the Boston Scientific factory will be built in Cork on a greenfield site.