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A US company has chosen Shannon as the location of its European Centre of Excellence, creating 25 roles over the next five years. Exida, a world leader in functional safety, industrial cybersecurity, and alarm management, provides certification, services, assessments, and tools to a number of industries. Company CEO Chris O’Brien said, “We are very excited to launch Exida IRL to provide local support for our European customers and expand Exida’s technical capabilities.” There were several factors that led to choosing Ireland for this expansion, said Mr O’Brien, including proximity to European customers, strong local talent pool to recruit from, support from IDA Ireland, and the country’s proven track record for foreign direct investment. Exida director Iwan van Beurden said, “Initial hiring is already completed for the Shannon office and our plans are to bring the total staff count up to 25 in the next three to five years. This staff will allow us to expand our software development capability and …

SHANNONDOC’S recently filed annual accounts show a surplus of over €103,000 for 2019, but the company remains in the red. Its liabilities at December 31, 2019, exceeded its total assets by €141,813, and with the statements prepared on a going concern basis, the continued support of the HSE and member doctor contributions are necessary for the company to remain in operation. Having filed a loss of €65,918 for 2018, the company performed better in 2019 to deliver a surplus of €103,591. The financial statement read, “The validity of the assumption (that it will continue to operate) depends on the continued support of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the member doctors’ contributions. The HSE has confirmed that it will continue to fund the company for the next 12 months subject to the terms of the Service Arrangement entered into with the company, which is renewed annually. “The company has made a surplus for the second quarter of 2020 and is …

AN application has been made for the development of a bioenergy plant at a 3.5 hectare site in Stonehall. At the moment the site in question is owned by the Shannon Airport Authority, who have consented to Carbon Sole Group Limited making the application. Back in 2012, Clare County Council voted to rezone land to allow Carbon Sole to develop a green energy faciity in the Stonehall area, despite strong local opposition. While no objections to the new proposal have been lodged to date, it would certainly not be a surprise if that changes before the November 3 deadline for submissions. Among the items that would be included in the development would be a biomass processing and storage area utilising forestry products, a Gasification and Methanation Plant for the production of advanced biofuels, a Gasificaiton and Combined Heat Power Plant, a thermal energy recovery and storage facility and a new 38kV substation. In essence the new development would see bioenergy …

CLARE is among the counties hardest hit by the economic fall-out of the pandemic, a new report from the Central Bank and the Western Development has found. This county, along with eight others along the western seaboard, comprise what is called the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC). The research highlights the reliance in this county on very small businesses in sectors like tourism and cautions that this could affect economic recovery into the longer term. It also finds there are fewer job opportunities arising in Clare for those whose employment has ended due to Covid-19 restrictions. The report entitled, ‘The Regional impact of COVID-19: Western Region & Atlantic Economic Corridor,’ underlines the crucial role played by policies such as the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) in supporting household incomes and firms this county. “A concentration of jobs in consumer-facing sectors such as tourism and accommodation mean that workers in these counties have been adversely affected by …

WITH its traditional open evening unable to go ahead, St Patrick’s Comprehensive School has had to improvise to show potential new students and their parents what it has to offer. The school has teamed up with a past pupil to shoot a video capturing the Comp’s unique atmosphere and the sense of closeness and camaraderie that defines it. “Normally what we would have had on Thursday night would have been our actual open night,” principal Mary Costello told the Champion. “The school would have been open, all the classrooms would have been open and we’d have had tours going around led by students and staff, where prospective students could come in and walk around and get a sense of it. “Obviously with Covid we can’t do that. We looked at all the different options that were out there, there are Google earth ones, but what we wanted very much was to give a sense of the school, the atmosphere and …

MORE THAN 3,000 courses are to be made available through colleges serving the Midwest, following an investment in an initiative to upskill people in response to the economic impact of the pandemic. 271 additional post-graduate places and 2,769 additional modular places will be available at the University of Limerick (UL), Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT), the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) after an investment of €30 million. Senator Martin Conway said the new free and subsidised higher education places would “help get people back to work, upskill workers and build economic confidence while continuing to manage the impact of Covid-19”. “People are really suffering as a result of this pandemic and the government is working to provide opportunities for those who have been most affected and ensure that they have the skills that are needed by employers today,” the Fine Gael member said. “Many courses focus on future proofing the skills of …

RETAILERS around the county are receiving visits from Gardaí to ensure compliance with Level 5 restrictions, amid controversy over which shops and products are deemed to be essential. Clare Gardaí have confirmed receiving a number of complaints about apparent breaches of the rules. Despite the government outlining 16 different categories of retail that can continue under the highest level of Covid-19 restrictions, confusion has arisen. Several members of the public have contacted The Champion to say that certain retail outlets appear to be open when they shouldn’t be. Similarly, many retailers who are deemed to be non-essential, have taken issue with the sale of clothing by supermarkets. Retail representative groups say members are angry and confused. “We’ve been asking the government to make all retail essential at this time of the year,” said CEO of Ennis-based Retail Excellence, Duncan Graham. “There was a palpable sense of shock when we moved to Level 5. People are very anxious, they’re very worried, …

THE move to Level 5 restrictions has seen the domestic economy slump further, with many locally owned businesses having to close their doors again. While many people have been left out of work, at least temporarily, there is a more positive dimension to the local employment situation, with a number of multinational companies in Clare and the wider region trying to find new staff. This week saw an announcement by US company exida that it will create 25 new jobs in Shannon , while Joe Robbins of Careerwise Recruitment said the Pharma/Life Sciences/ Medical Devices sector is booming in the mid-west. “If you consider so many companies are working on a vaccine, they’ve continued to hire, and a lot of them are growing. They’re hiring from a small pool of people, and if you’re a quality engineer or a manufacturing engineer, or a chemist or a scientist, you’ve a lot of choice. I’m talking about the mid-west but in Cork …