The chances are that if you are watching a major disaster or rescue operation in the UK on television, the injured are being taken to hospital in an ambulance built in the Republic. Virtually all ambulances in use in the UK, other than in London and Scotland, are supplied by a small company in Co Offaly.
Wilker Auto Conversions Ltd, in Clara, employs 57 people and turns out 14 new ambulances each week for its customers in the UK and the Republic. The company, already ranked the second-largest ambulance supplier in Europe, is poised to capture even more of a market share, according to its managing director, Mr Noel Kerrigan.
Its newly-designed Lunar ambulance is now on the assembly line and is expected to capture a fair share of the market in the UK, France, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
The Lunar model is built and designed to carry the most up-to-date medical equipment required for emergencies. The new model is higher and wider than a standard ambulance and can carry equipment which other ambulances cannot fit in, such as extra monitoring equipment.
Other features include newly designed storage cupboards which give the crews greater access to medical supplies. Another feature is an emergency handrail inside and outside the vehicle.
According to Mr Kerrigan, the other major feature of the Lunar is that it can be fixed to any make of chassis so customers can choose the vehicle of their choice, and Wilker Auto Conversions Ltd will "build on" the ambulance to the Lunar model specification.
"This vehicle will put us 10 years ahead of our rivals, and we hope to break into the mainland European market because of its unique qualities," he said.
There has also been interest in the Lunar from the Far East. Buyers from Indonesia have visited the plant and have, according to Mr Kerrigan, been very impressed.
The company, which also builds mini-buses and converts vehicles for use by the disabled or as mobile clinics, hopes to increase its workforce to 95 by the year 2001 on the success of the Lunar ambulance.