Business

VistaMed to create 125 jobs in Co Leitrim as part of €7m investment Irish medical devices firm VistaMed is to create 125 new jobs at its manufacturing facilities in Carrick-on-Shannon and Rooskey in Co Leitrim by the end of this year. Currently employing 250 people in Ireland, VistaMed provides catheters and extrusion products to the global medical device industry and is a Helix Medical joint venture partner. The announcement is part of a new investment programme of more than €7m, supported by Enterprise Ireland. Recruitment for these positions is ongoing and positions are expected to be filled by the end of 2014. It came as VistMed officially opened a state-of-the-art 35,000 sq ft…

United Airlines has re-introduced its non-stop service between Shannon and its Chicago hub, O’Hare International Airport, for the summer in response to customer demand. The service is operating until 15 September 2014, a more extended period than last year. The frequency of the service is five flights weekly until 16 Jun and the period 19 August to 1 September, daily between 17 June and 18 August, and four flights weekly between 2 to 15 September (all dates westbound). Declan Power, head of aviation development at Shannon Airport, commented: “The increase of 90 additional flights to and from Chicago this year is a testament to the success of the route which…

Green REIT has invested €335m to date in compiling a portfolio of 16 investment properties. In an interim management statement for the four and half months since 1 January 2014, the company said this morning that it has acquired a number of properties in what has been an “active period”.  The company’s acquisitions during the period were the Danske II portfolio for €22.1m and Central Park. On 2 May 2014, Green REIT completed a firm placing and placing and open offer, raising net proceeds of around €385m. “The success of our second capital raising, which increased our total equity base to approximately €685m, reflects the market’s confidence in our ability…

Nearly three-quarters (72pc) of international insurance leaders based in Ireland are confident about business volume growth in the year ahead, up from 62pc last year, according to a new survey. The survey by PwC among the Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA) shows that of this, 32pc are very confident, up from just 10pc last year. Over half (59pc) of industry leaders are planning people or resource growth, however there are indications that conditions remain weak in certain areas. Nearly a third (30pc) of respondents reported that further product innovation and diversification is the main opportunity for growth in the next three years. Other growth opportunities include increasing existing…

Irish medical device company Mainstay Medical has floated on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) today. The company, which has operations in Australia and the US, raised €18m on its admission to the Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) and began trading with a market capitalisation of €90m. It’s the first company on the Irish market to have a dual quotation with Euronext Paris. The ISE now has active dual listings with the UK, US, Canada, France and Switzerland. “Our listing on the ESM raises our profile in Ireland and internationally and enables us to focus on the next stage in our development as we execute our plans to obtain regulatory approval for…

Visa card spend by overseas visitors up 20pc to €903m in 2013 Overseas visitors to Ireland spent over €903m on credit, debit and prepaid Visa cards during 2013, up 20pc on 2012, according to Visa Europe, which attributed much of the increase to the success of The Gathering. Asian and Middle Eastern Visitors Lead in Average Spend per Transaction Although visitors from the UK and the US accounted for the bulk of foreign spending in Ireland, travellers from countries in Asia and the Middle East had a higher average spend per transaction. Indonesians spent more per transaction than any other nationality, with an average of €170.71.  The next highest spenders…

The inaugural flight of the new Aer Lingus Dublin to Toronto service took off from Dublin Airport just after 2pm this afternoon. The flight, which is also the first operation of from Dublin of the Boeing B757 aircraft recently added to Aer Lingus’ transatlantic fleet, is set to arrive in Toronto just before 4pm local time (9pm Irish time). The new service will operate year-round with a daily service between Dublin and Toronto during the summer season and up to four weekly services operating during the winter. This is the fourth transatlantic route launch in recent months and forms part of Aer Lingus’ significant transatlantic growth plan in 2014. “Aer…

Earlier this week it was announced that the OpenSSL cryptographic software library has a severe weakness called the Heartbleed Bug. There is a new security warning which has been covered recently in the news which has elevated the stress in many computer users. It has been dubbed the ‘Heartbleed vulnerability.’ What exactly is the Heartbleed vulnerability bug? The Heartbleed vulnerability affects SSL, which is the technology that keeps your information private while you surf the internet. When you buy something online you have probably seen a padlock on the URL bar; this “lock” tell you that your information is kept safe from hackers. So what is exactly is wrong with SSL? The issue is…

Eli Lilly is to begin recruiting for 100 jobs for its new biopharmaceutical facility in Cork this week. The company, which announced the €330m investment in a brand-new facility at its Kinsale campus in Cork back in 2012, said it would be looking for highly qualified personnel across a range of disciplines to add to the existing staffing of the new facility, with the bulk to be recruited this year. The investment expands the Kinsale site’s existing biopharmaceutical mission with the establishment of an additional world-class commercialization and manufacturing facility. The new facility, when fully operational in 2016, will require a range of skills including operators, process engineers, scientists, laboratory…

McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland today officially opened its new ‘drive-thru’ restaurant on Hebron Road on the outskirts of Kilkenny City. McDonald’s has invested €3m into the new development and created 60 new jobs. Irish and Leinster Rugby player Sean O’Brien was on hand to officially open the new outlet. The new restaurant will replace the existing McDonald’s restaurant on Patrick St, Kilkenny, which closed earlier this year. Themed ‘Spirit of Family’, it features self-order kiosks, Samsung Galaxy tablets, an interior play area and a birthday party room, and is the first of its kind in Ireland. The delivery of the new 60 jobs is the latest phase in McDonald’s expansion…