TESCO OPENED three new outlets yesterday, providing 90 new jobs in Swinford, Co Mayo, and 110 jobs each in Oranmore, Co Galway and Ballybeg, Waterford city.
A further 15 jobs will be created when a Tesco Express store opens in Newcastle, Galway city, next week.
A recruitment office was set up in Swinford last August sparking an unprecedented response from job seekers locally.
Within 10 days, 600 people had applied for the jobs and the company stopped taking applications.
Commenting on the flood of applicants for the Swinford positions, local Fine Gael TD John O’Mahony said yesterday it was a telling commentary on the economic times we live in.
“The high level of interest in these jobs indicates that the unemployment rate locally is very high, particularly amongst young people.”
One of the successful applicants for the Swinford jobs, Christine O’Flanagan from Claremorris, said she had been out of work for six months and was delighted to be given a position in the shop’s clothing department.
“They [Tesco] must have spotted something good in me,” she laughed.
Donal Walshe, an unemployed barman from Bohola, was also delighted.
He said he had been out of work for two months and had been turned down for a lot of positions before coming up trumps with Tesco.
David O’Reilly, manager of the Swinford store, was assisted in cutting the ribbon on the new store yesterday by two schoolchildren, Leah Fahey and Thomas Stenson from St Joseph’s National School, Swinford, and Killasser National School, respectively.
Yesterday’s store openings are part of Tesco Ireland’s €113 million national investment plans for this year and next, creating 748 new jobs which were announced earlier this year.
Tony Keohane, Tesco Ireland chief executive, said at yesterday’s Swinford opening: “We are once again very pleased to highlight Tesco’s commitment to Ireland with the opening of these three new stores.”
He said all of the jobs were permanent and will give a significant boost to local employment in all three counties.
Mr Keohane also said the retail sector had a very important role to play in stimulating the economy at this time.