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Shannon to forge its own path

AFTER eight years, Shannon Airport will no longer be under the control of the Dublin Airport Authority as it is to be combined with Shannon Development to form a new entity.Government Ministers Leo Varadkar and Richard Bruton announced the creation of the new entity on Wednesday, which will have a commercial mandate and be publicly owned. Shannon Development will lose some of its key functions under the move.The new entity will have no nett debt (Shannon Airport had been carrying a debt of approximately €100 million) but it will lose Aer Rianta International, which was developed in Shannon and is hugely lucrative.The Minister’s statement said the entity, “will have a clear mandate, working closely with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to develop the potential of the aviation sector and will explore other opportunities with those agencies for further prospective investments in the region”.As part of the restructuring, Shannon Development, which has been a huge factor in the development of industry …

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Roche loses €45m after new drug fails

AN investment for a Clarecastle pharmaceutical plant, estimated to be worth €45 million, has been unexpectedly pulled after poor results in a late-stage trial of a new heart disease drug.The shock withdrawal of the drug Dalcetrapib from expensive clinical trials is regarded as a major setback for Swiss drugmaker Roche, which employs about 225 permanent and between 100 and 200 people on contract at its Clarecastle plant.It is also a huge blow for the Clare and Mid-West economy with the loss of at least 50 new permanent jobs and over 100 temporary construction and engineering jobs over a two-year period.The implications of the withdrawal, which came as a bolt from the blue for staff on Monday, will be discussed in more detail at a meeting between management and union representatives in Roche this Thursday.Initial preparations were already in place for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to attend a sod-turning ceremony in June at the request of Deputy Joe Carey.Roche, the sixth-biggest drugmaker …

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Call to remove employment embargo

A “significant” drop in staffing levels in local authorities in Clare means “it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide and maintain a service” according to Councillor Richard Nagle. He is now calling on Government to consider removing the embargo on employment of public sector staff, particularly with regard to outdoor staff in the road and water services sectors. The number of people working for Clare County Council has dropped by more than 13% in the last five years. According to figures released to The Clare Champion, Clare County Council along with Ennis Town Council and Kilrush Town Council had 955 employees in 2007. This increased to 962 in 2008 before decreasing annually. By December last year the authorities had a total of 833 people on staff. Since then, at least a further 20 employees have retired from transport and water services and environment sections of the council.Figures from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government show that by 2009 …

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