A £43 million pharmaceuticals plant is to be built in Sligo town by Abbott Laboratories which is expected to create 195 jobs.
It is the most significant jobs announcement in Sligo for many years and will be the first pharmaceuticals plant in the north-west. IDA Ireland said it would be a flagship project that would significantly enhance the "marketability" of Sligo.
Abbott is the largest employer in Sligo, with up to 1,000 people working at three plants. It has been there since 1975. A further 700 people are employed at facilities in Donegal town and Cootehill, Co Cavan.
Its other factories manufacture medical devices and diagnostic and nutritional products, but this is the company's first pharmaceuticals plant in Ireland.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, made the announcement of the IDA-backed investment worth £43 million. She said the facility would be a "great addition" to the pharmaceutical sector". Abbott spokesman Mr Bill Carty said operations were expected to begin early in 2003, with the workforce rising to 195 over a three-year period. He said the plant would be built on the company's own site at Balllytivan, close to Sligo town. The company decided to locate the plant in Sligo because of its "excellent experience" with the local workforce. Both the company and the IDA said it was not a cause for any concern that Sligo would now be even more reliant on Abbott for most of its manufacturing jobs.
Mr Carty said US-based Abbott had been one of the world's leading healthcare companies for more than 100 years, with 70,000 people employed worldwide. "If Abbott wouldn't survive, then I don't know who would," he said.
The IDA's regional director for the Border area, Mr Frank Conlon, said "even in times of a slow-down people will always need healthcare products. It is exactly the type of project the IDA has been going after for the north-west." Ms Harney acknowledged that Abbott was "a major contributor" to the economic development of the north-west, with an annual wage bill of £27 million.