IDA Ireland today  welcomed the announcement by Allergan, one of the world’s leading Medical Aesthetics companies, that it is to locate the manufacture of its newest medical technology, SeriScaffold, at its manufacturing facility in Westport, Co. Mayo.

SeriScaffold is a bioresorbable silk-based surgery scaffold for use in tissue generation in numerous therapeutic areas including breast reconstruction. Allergan has chosen Westport as the location for this manufacturing activity due to the combination of state-of-the-art engineering capabilities and scientific expertise.

Welcoming the announcement, Barry O’Leary, IDA CEO said, ‘I would like to congratulate the management and staff at Allergan in Westport for winning this excellent investment. It is encouraging that Ireland continues to win investments of this nature demonstrating that advanced manufacturing activities remain as a fundamental part of Ireland’s Foreign Direct Investment portfolio.’

‘Building on its long history of continued investment in Ireland this announcement is highly significant to Allergan and will help to further position its Irish operation as a centre of strategic importance within the parent company. On behalf of IDA I look forward to working with Allergan as the company further develops in Ireland.’

The Tánaiste and Minister for Education, Mary Coughlan TD, last month announced that Zeus, the US headquartered medical device company, is investing €10m in a 40,000sq ft expansion and creating 75 new manufacturing jobs over three years.

The expansion of its facility at the IDA Business and Technology Park, Letterkenny, Co Donegal is supported by IDA Ireland.

Zeus Industrial Products (Zeus), headquartered in Orangeburg, South Carolina, is a leading developer and manufacturer of precision polymer extrusions, including specialist fluropolymer tubing solutions, for a range of industries. Established in 1966, the company is privately held by the original founder Frank P Tourville and employs 1,200 people worldwide.

“The decision by Zeus to expand its operation in Letterkenny is testament to the availability of a highly-skilled workforce in the north west region, the performance of its existing staff and the ease of doing business in Ireland,” stated Coughlan at the announcement. “On behalf of the Government, I look forward to providing continued support to Zeus as its Irish operation grows and develops.”

Séamus Hughes, general manager of Zeus in Ireland, said: “Since establishing our operation in 2005, our experience of doing business in Ireland has been a positive one. Due to the growth in our customer base in Europe, we are expanding our operation in Letterkenny to meet the demand for our medical and industrial speciality tubing product. We are very excited about our expansion plans and I look forward to finding the right calibre of staff to ensure our continued success here.

“In addition, I would like to thank the executive management team of Zeus Inc for their continued support of the Irish operation and their confidence in the Irish employees. On behalf of the Irish employees, I am very proud to be part of a very progressive organisation.

“Finally, I would like to express our appreciation for the work and contribution made by IDA Ireland during this process and supported by the Irish Government.”

IDA Ireland CEO, Barry O’Leary also welcomed the announcement. “Zeus is an important manufacturer in the medical device industry in Ireland and offers a key sub supply role in a very specialised area,” he said.

 “This expansion was won for Ireland in the face of stiff international competition from other global locations, proving that Ireland has an increasingly competitive and pro-business environment to offer investors with a strong manufacturing focus.”

Dublin, Thursday, 9th December 2010 – Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe TD today announced that Citi, the leading global financial services company, is to create 250 roles in the next year at its offices in Dublin and Waterford.  These roles will be in Funds, Client Services, Product Development and will include some Operations and Technology roles.  These roles will come on stream over the next 18 months.  Citi currently employs 2,200 people in Dublin and Waterford and has already hired 300 people in the last twelve months including a number of graduates on the FÁS Work Placement Programme.  Ireland was chosen for these new roles as Citi has a long standing and well respected existing operation here. There is also a very talented and well educated labour force available in the Irish market for these roles.

Citi is celebrating 45 years of continuous business in Ireland and is committed to growing its franchise here. The pro business environment and the support received from IDA Ireland since its establishment have enabled Citi to become one of the largest international financial services companies in Ireland.  Citi is also leading the way in the field of Services Innovation and was the first financial services company to set up a Research and Development Centre to develop the next generation of eBanking products. The Centre was officially opened last year and now employs a team of researchers, technologists and analysts.

Minister O’Keeffe congratulated Citi for investing in Ireland for 45 years and described the 250 new jobs as a “strong endorsement of Ireland’s financial services sector.

“More than half the world’s leading financial services firms now have operations in Ireland.  Citi, a pioneer in the financial services sector, has made an outstanding contribution to our economy for more than four decades.

‘It is a standard-bearer in Dublin’s IFSC and the expansion of the Waterford operation has dramatically enhanced the profile of the south-eastern region for top-level financial services investments.

‘Citi’s announcement today demonstrates that we can out-perform rival locations for major global investments in the financial services sector because we have the talent, track record and tax regime that makes global players want to hub here,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

Francesco Vanni d’Archirafi, Global Head of Global Transaction Services said at today’s announcement “I am very pleased to announce the addition of these high value jobs for our Irish operations.  Citi in Ireland is a centre of excellence for our Global Transaction Services business and is now our location of choice for the pursuit of innovation in financial services.  There is a wealth of talent, experience and expertise based here and with the support of IDA Ireland, we will continue to grow our business and provide the banking products and services of the future from here.”

Also speaking at today’s announcement Aidan Brady, Citi Country Officer, Citi Ireland said “Ireland was chosen as the location of choice for these new roles due to the calibre of our employees and the depth of expertise and innovative thinking inherent in our workforce which has enabled Citi Ireland to continue to win business and become the leader in Services Innovation for the organisation worldwide.  The Government’s pro business approach and IDA’s support for projects in the financial Services sector has been vital to our continued success.”

Citi provides financial services and products for multinational companies, Irish companies and the government and public sector.  The range of products and services include: cash management, rate risk management, (FX and interest rates), funding, investor products, corporate finance, trade services, trade finance, custody, trustee services, fund administration, transfer agency, outsourcing and shareholder services.

Welcoming today’s announcement IDA Ireland CEO Barry O’Leary said “Ireland’s international financial services sector is recovering and in expansion mode. IDA’s ‘Horizon 2020’ strategy identifies growth in services and technology as key strategic areas of opportunity for Ireland. The growth of Citi demonstrates Ireland’s continuing attractiveness as a location for foreign direct investment. The combination of talent, corporate tax, track record, technology capability and the ease of doing business positions Ireland to win further investments in international financial services.”

Notes to Editor
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

21st October 2010, Dublin: Europe’s leader in ‘Content on Demand’, GoAdv has marked its rebrand to Populis (www.populis.com) with the opening of its new European headquarters in Dublin today.  The company, which employs over 45 people in Ireland, is also expanding its Irish employee base at the office in Barrow Street, Dublin.

Populis, which has been operating in Ireland since November 2006, delivers up to the minute ‘content on demand’ to web users.  This content from news to guides is crowdsourced from a team of expert collaborators and published through its network of wholly owned and operated websites including Excite Europe, Better Deals, Blogsfere and Nanopublishing.  The organisation has over 18 million unique monthly users across 500 wholly owned and operated websites in 8 languages.

Populis is expanding its Irish operation, with initially additional roles in Content Management, Search Engine Marketing and Administration, in one of Europe’s technology growth hot spots. The European headquarters already counts over 8 nationalities and 10 languages across its team of Search Engine Marketing and online content experts.

Commenting on the rebrand and expansion, John Slyne, Managing Director Ireland and Group CFO, Populis said “We are delighted to celebrate our rebrand to Populis with new offices in Dublin. Content on Demand has experienced phenomenal growth and we needed a strategic base to help us achieve our expansion goals.  This further commitment to Ireland reflects the country’s growing leadership position in pan European digital communications.”

Welcoming the expansion and opening of the new headquarters Barry O’Leary, CEO IDA  Ireland said “As the only major player in the sector to produce content in 8 languages, Populis is a welcome addition to Ireland’s vibrant digital media portfolio and its rapid growth here is testament to the local management and highly skilled and talented staff working in the Dublin HQ.”

“Populis is an excellent example of the type of high growth technology company which IDA targeted under its Horizon 2020 strategy. The addition of Populis to our rapidly expanding digital media sector reinforces Ireland’s growing reputation as the internet Capital of Europe” he added.

About Content on Demand.
Populis takes a scientific approach to content generation with a database of over 16 million key words and a proprietary algorithm to define the hottest content topics of web users.  Once identified matching news, features, guides and comment content is then crowdsourced from a network of professional writers, video producers, expert contributors and editors.  This content is then published across a network of wholly owned media brands and optimized for search traffic via search marketing, social tools and community engagement.  This content is then monitised through partnerships with tier 1 search/contextual providers (e.g. Google, Yahoo) and direct deals (e.g. Expedia, lastminute and eBay).

About Populis
Populis is one of Europe’s fastest growing digital media companies (GP Bullhound Media Momentum 2010) and European leader in the production of multilingual content on demand. Created in 2004 the Group crowdsources, distributes and monetizes over 20,000 items of compelling content in 8 languages per month for a vibrant network of 500 fully owned and operated websites including Excite Europe, Better Deals and Nanopublishing. The media properties generate over 18 million unique monthly users (Source: Comscore September 2010).

Populis is a pan-European company with a team of over 125 working across offices in Ireland and Italy, active in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, US, Australia, Russia and Brazil.

The company has experienced double digit revenue growth every year for the past 5 years, culminating in multiple award wins (Media Momentum, Red Herring 100) and the enviable position as European leader in content on demand, GoAdv’s rebrand to Populis will increase its visibility with an easily recognizable name and identity, while strengthening its space in an increasingly competitive market sector.

IDA Ireland today (September 2nd 2010) welcomed the announcement by AOL Global Operations Limited that it is to further expand its Dublin operation, creating an additional 20 software development positions at its Dublin Development Centre. 

Today’s announcement follows the company’s announcement in June that it was to create 50 software engineering positions to expand its reach as a leading provider of Internet advertising technologies, services and user content through its wide range of AOL content brands and site.

Commenting on the announcement, IDA Ireland CEO, Barry O’Leary said “The decision by AOL, a leading global internet services and media company, to expand further in Ireland reinforces Ireland’s reputation as one of Europe’s leading locations  for digital media companies. Having only recently announced an additional 50 positions, today’s announcement demonstrates the commitment by AOL to the growth and development of its Irish operations.  I wish the company continued success in Ireland”. 

The new employment opportunities are for high value experienced professional software engineering positions, with opportunities available for both senior and intermediately experienced recruits. 

AOL has been based in Dublin for the past 10 years and currently employs 133 people. Dublin is its development engine for Europe and works alongside its sister Development Centres in San Francisco, Dulles, New York, Bangalore and Frankfurt. The company announced in June that it plans to move to a new headquarters in Dublin City Centre.

Galway, Ireland, 19 July 2010 —- Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe T.D, today announced that the global leader in operational endpoint security, Lumension®, is expanding its Galway-based global R&D Centre.  The company, which established the operation in October 2009 with the intention of employing 30 people in the facility, now expects to employ over 50 people by the end of 2010.

The R&D Centre in Galway serves as Lumension’s international centre for product research and development, customer support and auxiliary services, employing highly talented individuals to help build its innovative suite of endpoint security solutions.  Today’s announcement will create even more opportunities for skilled, team-oriented individuals who wish to be part of an established, fast growing global company in a dynamic market space.

Minister O’Keeffe described Lumension’s expansion plans as ‘very encouraging for Ireland’s information communications technology sector’.

‘Eight of the world’s top 10 technology firms are based in Ireland so Lumension’s decision to hire more highly skilled workers for its research and development centre fits well with the Government’s focus on innovation and high-tech industries.

‘The Galway operation is a key component of Lumension’s global activities and the software engineers should be very proud of their role in helping the firm to exceed its growth targets.

‘This is another example for the global investor community that Ireland can outperform our competitors in attracting and retaining multinationals and then helping them to develop their businesses,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.  

Speaking on behalf of Lumension, Ciaran Kelly, Director of R&D, said: “We are excited to be growing our Irish operation so rapidly, less than a year after we established the facility.  We’re delighted to have assembled an excellent team of highly skilled software engineers in Galway in such a relatively short timeframe. Their contribution to Lumension’s product suite has resulted in the confidence to grow the Galway R&D centre capabilities. We look forward to continuing our success in Ireland working closely with business partners and IDA Ireland.” 

Welcoming the announcement, CEO of IDA Ireland, Barry O’Leary said: “I am delighted Lumension has exceeded its growth plan for Ireland and continues to expand in Galway.  Ireland has a strong track record for attracting ICT companies. Today’s decision shows the company’s confidence in its Galway operation as a key part of its global R&D activities”. 

For further information please contact:    
Lumension –
Lumension media contact – Ruth Jones, PR  Tel : +44 20 7842 3263 

Lumension HR – To learn more about the new positions available at the Ireland office, please visit www.lumension.com/careers.

IDA Ireland –

Gillian Lawless, Press & PR, Tel: 01-6034095/ 0879050699
Jim Murren, IDA Regional Manager, West Region, Tel: 087 2517 480

Donegal, Tánaiste and Minister for Education Mary Coughlan TD today (July 15th 2010) announced that US health insurer UnitedHealth Group is to expand its operation in Letterkenny with the creation of 200 new jobs. The announcement is supported by the Irish Government with the aid of IDA.
The Minneapolis-based health insurer currently employs 340 people in IT and medical claims processing at its Letterkenny site, and this latest investment is expected to further embed jobs into the future. The 200 new positions will be split evenly between IT technicians and medical claims associates.

Commenting at the announcement, Tánaiste and Minister for Education, Mary Coughlan TD said, ‘Today’s announcement by UnitedHealth is a remarkable boost to one of Donegal’s most valuable employers. This expansion by one of the world’s leading health insurers is significant to the financial services sector in Ireland.’

‘UnitedHealth’s’ decision to expand in Ireland comes about as a direct result of the availability of highly-skilled staff in the region, the performance and tenure of existing staff and also the geographic location of the Letterkenny site – it’s time zone lends itself to the 24/7 support needed for the US and Indian markets. On behalf of the Irish Government I look forward to providing continued support to UnitedHealth as its Irish operation grows and develops.’

‘Having strong telecom connectivity has been an important aspect of securing this investment. The development of the Metropolitan Areas Networks and the recent addition of the direct international connectivity provided by Project Kelvin are instrumental in supporting employment intensive investment in the Border region.’

US Vice-President of Operations, Jim Becker, described today’s events as, “a proud day” for the UnitedHealth Group.  “We are delighted to be in Letterkenny and to share in the success of Pádraig Monaghan, our MD here, and his team. There were clear parameters for us in expanding our operations and we did indeed look at other sites around the world.  However, the Letterkenny facility stood out for us. Their unquestionable ability to succeed each and every day, along with their strategic location and passionate workforce made our decision very easy.  We also had an excellent working relationship with the IDA which has facilitated our expansion in Donegal and I would like to thank the organisation for that.”

Managing Director of UnitedHealth, Pádraig Monaghan paid tribute to his loyal staff stating, “We are very fortunate to have staff who possess such a steely and determined work ethic.  Today’s announcement is testament to their hard work over the past 11 years.  We have a proven track record in maintaining high standards within all our divisions and we are very proud to be able to increase the capacity of the company given the current economic challenges.  This is also a great day for Letterkenny and the broader business community who will benefit indirectly from this announcement.”

IDA CEO Barry O’Leary said, “United Health is a Fortune 100 company and has operations in 63 locations worldwide.  The jobs announced today in IT and medical claims processing will be undertaken for clients in the United States, the Middle-East, Europe and Asia. Services Innovation is an important area of focus for IDA and an important part of IDA’s strategy. IDA Ireland looks forward to supporting UnitedHealth as it continues to grow its operations in Ireland.’
Recruitment for the 200 jobs has now begun and it is expected that all positions will be filled by the end of 2011.

For further information please contact:

Joanne Sweeney-Burke
Media Box
Tel: 0035374 9168478 / 0035387 6237373
joanne@mediabox.ie

Tyler Mason
UnitedHealth Group
Tel: (312) 424 6913
tyler.mason@uch.com

IDA Ireland
Thomas McEvoy, Press and PR Manager,  Mob: 087 7426684
Antoinette Tyrrell, Press Officer, Mob: 0877572053 Tel: 087 7572053

Department of Education
Sean Perry, Press Advisor to the Tánaiste, Mob: 0879105013

The availability of a highly experienced, multilingual workforce and the proximity to many of our European customers were key reasons for our choice of Galway for these important operations.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan TD today, 19th January 2010, announced that StreamServe Inc., a leading provider of business communications solutions, is to establish an Inside Sales and Customer Care Operation in Galway, creating 20 jobs, with the support of the Government through IDA Ireland.

StreamServe, will initially employ 20 people at the Galway operation in areas such as sales, maintenance renewals, and customer care operations, servicing both the U.S. and EMEA markets.

The Tánaiste, welcoming the decision, said “I am delighted to announce the official opening of StreamServe’s new Irish operation in Galway today. This investment is great news for Galway and the west region in particular. It is a positive endorsement from an industry leading software company that Ireland can provide the necessary skills and pro-business policies to assist companies such as StreamServe’s rapidly growing international business. I wish to congratulate the company on this important day and to assure StreamServe that it has the full support of the Irish Government as it develops its operation in Galway.”

“I am delighted to officially announce the establishment of our Inside Sales and Customer Care center in Galway,” added Dennis Ladd, StreamServe’s president and CEO. “The availability of a highly experienced, multilingual workforce and the proximity to many of our European customers were key reasons for our choice of Galway for this important operation. We look forward to doing business here for years to come.”

About StreamServe:

StreamServe is a leading provider of Enterprise Document Presentment solutions that set the standard for business communications. Simple to deploy and maintain, the company’s dynamic composition, document process automation and enterprise output management solutions meet the demanding challenges of today’s global businesses for producing and delivering highly customized documents in any format.

StreamServe’s advanced software solutions ease the process of composing and automating business communications, enabling organizations to increase the value and profitability of their business relationships. This is done all while leveraging existing business applications such as ERP, CRM and ECM.

The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Burlington, Mass., with 14 offices worldwide. StreamServe serves more than 5,000 customers in 130 countries, primarily in the financial services, utilities, manufacturing, distribution and telecom sectors. Customers include BMW, CLP Power Hong Kong, AmerisourceBergen, and Siemens Financial. StreamServe’s strategic partners include Adobe Systems, IBM, InfoPrint Solutions Company, Lawson and SAP AG. At the SAP for Utilities 2009 conference in Washington, DC, StreamServe became the only technology vendor awarded an “SAP Collaboration Fuels Innovation Award” for its integration with SAP solutions in developing innovative solutions that meet the business needs of today, as well as those of the future.

US multinational Maxim Integrated Products chooses Ireland for its international business centre

Company to initially recruit 50 staff in Dublin, 100 by 2012

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan TD today (Thursday 17th December, 2009) announced that major US multinational firm, Maxim Integrated Products is to establish a new international business operation in Dublin, with the creation of 50 staff initially, rising to over 100 by 2012. The development was facilitated by the Irish government through IDA Ireland.

Maxim’s new international business, financial, and technical customer services centre in Dublin will serve the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, along with parts of Asia. The centre will initially employ accountants, financial analysts, supply-chain specialists, information technology (IT) technicians, and multilingual customer-service staff. Maxim is hiring immediately, and details of these new career opportunities can be found in the careers section of the Company’s website at: www.maxim-ic.com/careers.

Speaking at the announcement, An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan TD said: “The decision by Maxim Integrated Products to locate its International Business Services Centre in Dublin reinforces Ireland’s international reputation as a thriving centre for the delivery of International Business Services. Maxim is a technically innovative, leading edge company and its products are world-renowned in the ICT industry and the high calibre of the jobs to be created by the company reflects the Irish Government’s strategy for a Smart Economy. I am delighted to welcome Maxim to Ireland and look forward to working closely with the company as it develops its Irish operation”.

Maxim was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley in California. The Company is an industry-leading designer of high-performance semiconductor (microchip) products for the industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets. The Company has been profitable every year since it went public in 1988 and employs approximately 8,800 people worldwide. Maxim invests over a quarter of all its revenues in R&D each year and announces on average one new product each day.

The Company is research driven, and holds multiple patents and industry awards for its inventions. It has a highly successful business model where it develops and owns its own intellectual property (IP). To stimulate new design ideas and product development, it operates 34 international technology centres, while 24 sales offices across the globe ensure close contact with over 35,000 customers. To control its business more directly, it operates 10 wafer fabrication and testing facilities worldwide.

Maxim’s products are used in portable and consumer devices like mobile phones, laptops, handheld Internet devices, cameras, set-top boxes, and LCD televisions. The Company’s chips also operate in numerous automotive, medical, industrial, broadband and communications functions, and in a vast array of other electronic systems.

“Dublin will be a strategically important international centre for Maxim,” said Tunç Doluca, President and CEO of Maxim. “We are investing in Ireland because the country has a talented and technically qualified workforce, and it has demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting R&D.” Maxim’s international growth plans are concentrated around delivering innovation and the recruitment of highly skilled personnel. “The positions we are creating in Dublin will support our presence in key markets across the EMEA region, and will add long-term value to our global business development,” Doluca added.

About Maxim Integrated Products
Maxim Integrated Products is a publicly traded company that designs, manufactures, and sells high-performance semiconductor products. The Company was founded over 25 years ago with the mission to deliver innovative analog and mixed-signal engineering solutions that add value to its customers’ products. To date, it has developed over 6200 products serving the industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets. Maxim reported revenue in excess of $1.6 billion for fiscal 2009. A Fortune 1000 company, Maxim is included in the Nasdaq 100, the Russell 1000, and the MSCI USA indices. For more information, go to www.maxim-ic.com.

For further information
Maxim Integrated Products
Tim Kinsella,
MKC Communications, Tel. +353 1 703 8600

IDA Ireland
Gillian Lawless,
Press & PR, Tel : 01-6034190

45 new jobs will be created by Zevas in Carraigaline, Co Cork , to support the increased workload from the partnership with UPC Ireland. Zevas supports UPC through providing telesales and web sales services for its Irish operation.

Zevas Call Centre Services is a provider of outsourced customer contact solutions for companies customer communication.

Within the space of a month we had more recruitment industry activity than ever before in Ireland. Irish National Recruitment Federation had its Annual conference, and you can read about it on Jobs Blog. Microsoft organised the Recruitment Conference and a Tuesday Club, and both those are reviewed on the same site.

2 out of 3 recruiters in Ireland have lost their jobs since the recession started. Only the bare bones of the recruitment industry actually still exists.

Smart economists use recruitment figures as a barometer of the economy. What has been happening in the last 9 months is that about 1% of the workforce is made redundant and does not find the new job, hence goes on the dole.

The current predictions of the unemployment we are going to have in Ireland vary from 14% to 17%. The current trend puts us steady on 12% sometime next week. 15% in September and 17% at the end of the year. So we should reach that worst case predictions before the end of 2009.

In the same time there is no one predicting any recovery to start happening in January 2010. In the same time we expect the unemployment to miraculously stop growing. The reality is that all the signs are that the unemployment growth rate is steady. The last 9 months more or less each decreased the workforce for 1%. All the signs today show that the same is to continue for at least the end of the year. We might enter 2010 with one in five unemployment rate.

In the same time there are thousands of jobs in Ireland. Literally. And recruiters are finding it hard to fill those jobs. Employers are expecting the highest quality candidates ever. The number of skills are still in extreme shortage in Ireland. In fact Google announced recently that they are pulling about 1000 jobs out of their Irish operation centre, simply because they have not been able to find people with skills they are looking for here.

If you are looking for a job today, get ready and get organised.
It is not going to be easy and it’s not going to be quick to get another job for the most. Prepare mentally for the wage drop. In the similar level to the house price drop, or even more in some industries.

Get your CV ready, go and look at the jobs available, and do not only send you CV to the employers, but do call them, talk to them and present yourself in your best. Remember – there really are thousands of jobs available today in Ireland!

Nortel Networks has placed its Irish operation in administration. Nortel has a plant in Galway with arrount 300 staff.

It follows the decision by the Canadian telecommunications equipment manufacturer to file last week for bankruptcy protection in the United States.

Nortel Networks and several of its Canadian subsidiaries also applied for creditor protection under Canada’s Companies Creditors Arrangement Act.

The Toronto-headquartered group has appointed Ernst Young as administrators to Nortel Networks UK Limited and 18 of its other European, Middle East and African (EMEA) operations.

Its plant in Galway, which employs approximately 300 people, is included in the administration order.

Alan Bloom and David Hughes of Ernst Young have been appointed as joint administrators of Nortel (Ireland) Ltd.

The administrators have sought to reassure Nortel employees that the process is “expected to have no immediate impact on the company’s day-to-day operations including employee pay and benefits”.