The IE Professional #118a Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit part 1 of 3 ======================================================================= THE IE PROFESSIONAL _______________________________________________________________________ Issue No.118 September 10, 1997 Circulation: 9,530 ======================================================================= http://www.emigrant.ie/ The IE Professional is a free weekly newsletter from the publishers of the Irish Emigrant. Please forward copies to anyone who you think may be interested. They can automatically add themselves to the distribution by sending mail to with a subject of "subscribe". CONTENTS BUSINESS NEWS: - Merger of Avonmore and Waterford Foods completed - 103 new jobs in IR4.2m investment by Wexford Electronix - 75 jobs for Tuam with proposed expansion by Transitions Optical - Expansions by Sligo and Offaly companies boosts employee numbers - Computer Products acquires German electronics Elba Group - Restructuring at Longford textile firm to result in 100 redundancies - Hopes renewed for future of Thermal Heat Exchangers - Adria textile group to treble workforce at Co. Fermanagh plant - Jefferson Smurfit to invest Stg7m in Northern Ireland subsidiary - CableTel invests Stg50m in infrastructure in Derry region - IONA announces agreement with Raptor Systems - August's seasonally adjusted unemployment figures down by 1,000 - Venture capital investment to increase employment at Dundalk S/W firm - Statoil abandons test drilling in the Connemara Field - Guinness seeks approval of Competition Authority for takeover of UBH - Kerry Group admits interest in acquiring division of UK Dalgety Group - CSO's first Quarterly National Household Survey to commence this week - Central Bank bulletin presents very optimistic outlook for economy - Minister and Business Software Alliance discuss software piracy - Goodbody Stockbrokers reports on Irish software companies - IONA introduces Internet ready CORBA with OrbixWeb 3.0 - Logica expected to proceed with recruitment plans at Aldiscon - ABT promotes Irish financial software companies in London - Entropy announces improvements to WRQ's connectivity products FINANCIAL: - Exchange rates - Dublin closing prices - Leading Companies - Leading Multinationals in Ireland - stock prices ACADEMIC: - UCC Baltimore Washington alumni annual dinner - IR6m Biomedical Research fund announced by Health Research Board - UU scientists making progress in search for cancer cure - IR15,000 scholarships awarded for studies in disability - Galway RTC awarded funding to promote and generate Enterprise West - Machine Vision and Artificial Intelligence conferences at UU - Major redevelopment of Tralee RTC planned - New centre for Irish-German studies opened at UL - Four new Chairs at the University of Ulster Business School - President Robinson unveils memorial to Professor Ernest Walton - Information requested on peoples of Languedoc region, France JOB ADVERTISEMENTS: - IBM Ireland Ltd, Insurance Software Development Centre: IT/Insurance Analyst Client/Server Developers Host Systems Developer - Stratus, Dublin: Hardware Engineering Manager - Sustaining Product Support Engineers - University of Ulster, Faculty of Science: Chair in Applied Environmental Biology at Coleraine - Forbairt, Dublin: Planning Officer - Astra Pharmaceuticals (Ireland) Ltd., Dublin: Product Manager; Marketing Executive - IRC Eglinton Recruitment: Various Positions Nationwide - Leading Research and Development Company: Chief Executive - Selc Ireland Limited, Belmullet, Co. Mayo: Laboratory Assistant (Electronic) - Iona Technologies Ltd, Dublin: Consulting, Training, Sales, Support and Development positions - Higher Education Authority network (HEAnet), Dublin: Network Engineer - National Instruments, Dublin: European Human Resources Manager - CorkOpt Ltd., Cork: Development Engineer; Technicians - University College Cork: (2) Post Doctoral Research Scientists In Molecular Microbiology - Collins McNicholas: Call for Registration - Boston Scientific Ireland Ltd., Galway: Positions in Product Development, Engineering, Operations and Human Resources > > > > > > > > > BUSINESS NEWS < < < < < < < < < MERGER OF AVONMORE AND WATERFORD FOODS COMPLETED - All outstanding regulatory clearances for the merger of Avonmore Foods plc and Waterford Foods plc have now been received and close to 117m new ordinary shares in the new group, now known as Avonmore Waterford Group plc, will be issued to Waterford shareholders. Trading in the shares commenced this week. A statement issued by the boards of Avonmore and Waterford said it welcomed the completion of the regulatory process and the formation of the merged group. The statement concluded: "Avonmore Waterford will have the scale, vision and strategy to become a leading and innovative organisation in the Irish and international food sectors." 103 new jobs in IR4.2m investment by Wexford Electronix - The Forbairt-backed Wexford-based manufacturer, Wexford Electronix Ltd, is to expand in a IR4.2m investment. The expansion, which will boost employment at the plant from 422 to 525, involves an increase in manufacturing capacity, substantial investment in research and development and a strengthening of the management team. The company designs and manufactures vehicle wiring harnesses, entirely for export to the truck, tractor, construction and industrial vehicle markets. Originally formed in 1984, the company was the subject of a management buyout in 1994 with principal venture capital support from ICC. It has won the British Design Council and AIB Exporter of the Year awards and has a top supplier rating with several of its customers. Speaking about the project, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Harney commended the company's success to date and described it as "a solid example of achievement in a difficult and competitive international sector." 75 jobs for Tuam with proposed expansion by Transitions Optical - Ms Harney also announced that Transitions Optical Ltd, of Tuam, Co. Galway, is to invest IR9m in an expansion of its manufacturing facilities which will create 75 new jobs. The expansion is being backed by the IDA and has been prompted by the sharp growth in demand for the company's products from existing customers and its entry into new markets. The company purchases plastic lenses from lens casters which imbibe a special photochromic material before being sold back to the main lens casters in Europe, including Essilor, Sola and Zeiss. Transitions Optical was founded as a joint venture between the US company, PPG Industries and Essilor International of France in 1990 and now employs over 500 people world-wide. It has experienced a doubling of its world-wide business in the last two years. The company initially planned to employ 150 people within three years, a target which it reached. Making the announcement, Minister Harney said, "The winning of this expansion is a very significant development as it is an indication of the strategic importance of the Tuam facility within the corporation." EXPANSIONS BY SLIGO AND OFFALY COMPANIES BOOSTS EMPLOYEE NUMBERS - News of expansions at two other IDA-backed companies was also released by the Minister this week. Tente Ltd, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, a subsidiary of a German company which is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of castors and wheels, is to add 43 jobs as part of an ongoing investment. The expansion, which will include a research and development unit, will make the Ballymote facility the main producer of plastic castors and wheels within the Tente Group. The company commenced operations in Sligo in 1978 and currently employs 69 people. Its parent company employs 1,000 people in six manufacturing plants and achieved sales of IR52bn in 1996. The second announcement detailed an expansion of production facilities at Lowe Alpine Systems International in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The facility is the European manufacturing base for the UK company of the same name which specialises in clothing and accessories for the outdoor pursuits market. It was set up in Tullamore in 1978 and now employs 239 people. This expansion will lead to the recruitment of 30 more employees. COMPUTER PRODUCTS ACQUIRES GERMAN ELECTRONICS ELBA GROUP - Computer Products, one of the world's leading suppliers in the field of power supply and power conversion technology, with European headquarters in Youghal, Co. Cork, has acquired the German-owned electronics Elba Group for IR21m. According to Computer Products managing director Gary Duffy, "The acquisition will significantly strengthen and expand the company's European reach and operations". The Florida company established its Cork facility in 1981 and now employs 260 people there. It has operations in four other locations in the US as well as China and produces both standard and custom-designed products for the telecommunications, mobile communications and computer networking industries. Its customers include blue chip companies such as 3Com, Siemens, Bay Networks and Alcatel. The Irish facility employs 60 engineers in a range of R&D programmes and contributed IR40m of the company's total sales of IR140m in 1996. Mr Duffy added that the outlook for the Cork facility was extremely positive, with a 22% growth in sales last year and a 59% growth in new orders in the first half of this year. He attributed these growth rates to increases in demand for new products which have been designed and developed in Youghal. He went on to say that this acquisition would lead to growth for its European operations which would be led substantially by the Cork facility and would "create exciting opportunities for Irish engineers to work on new product development programmes in Youghal". RESTRUCTURING AT LONGFORD TEXTILE FIRM TO RESULT IN 100 REDUNDANCIES - Another 100 redundancies in the Irish textile industry are being blamed indirectly on the low cost manufacturers of the Far East. The job losses, at Atlantic Mills in Longford, have resulted from a restructuring of the company in an attempt to stem the losses of almost IR10m which the company has incurred over the past nine years. Atlantic Mills, which produces denim, had operated as a joint venture between a French and Dutch firm since the late 1980s. The Dutch partner, Ten Cate NV has bought out its partner and is planning a revision of work practices in order to increase the plant's competitiveness. Both management and SIPTU representatives are hopeful that the 100 redundancies will be voluntary. HOPES RENEWED FOR FUTURE OF THERMAL HEAT EXCHANGERS - Last week it seemed inevitable that the Thermal Heat Exchangers factory in Drogheda would be forced to close after the majority of its workforce of 205 refused proposed changes in work practices. An examiner had been appointed to the German-owned company last June and he remained convinced that potential investors could be found if the proposed rescue package was accepted by the workers. Following the intervention of the SIPTU branch secretary and local shop stewards, a second ballot of the workers secured a majority vote for the deal. According to the company's managing director Kevin Kidney, the cost cutting plan will produce savings of IR650k annually but it will result in 60 redundancies. A spokesman for the examiner said a number of potential investors had shown interest in the company and it hopes to have negotiations at an advanced stage by the end of the month. ADRIA TEXTILE GROUP TO TREBLE WORKFORCE AT CO. FERMANAGH PLANT - A division of the English-owned textile company, Adria Ltd, which employs 2,500 people at six plants across the North, has announced the addition of 100 new jobs at its Co. Fermanagh plant. Charnos Lingerie, in Lisnaskea, currently employs 40 people and plans to recruit 100 machinists to fulfil demand from its customers, mainly large high street retailers in the UK. JEFFERSON SMURFIT TO INVEST STG7M IN NORTHERN IRELAND SUBSIDIARY - Jefferson Smurfit is investing more than Stg7m in one of its subsidiaries in Northern Ireland. Smurfit TP of Belfast manufactures packaging for some of the North's leading companies. The proposed investment in new equipment at the plant is expected to ensure continued employment for its current staff of 125 people, with a possible increase of around 10% over the next few years. The company's announcement last week of interim results which saw its profits halved has not deterred financial analysts with Goldman Sachs, Saloman Brothers and Paine Webber all issuing "buy" recommendations for Smurfit shares this week. CABLETEL INVESTS STG50M IN INFRASTRUCTURE IN DERRY REGION - The telecommunications company CableTel has extended its influence in the North with an investment of Stg50m in the Derry region. The initial plan, to service commercial customers and domestic customers, will be catered for within six months according to the company. The chief executive of Derry City Council, which is itself a CableTel customer, welcomed the move saying that it would make the region more attractive to foreign investment. IONA ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH RAPTOR SYSTEMS - Dublin-based software company Iona Technologies has signed a strategic agreement with Raptor Systems Inc. to integrate Iona's Orbix Wonderwall security solution with Raptor's leading Eagle family of firewall products. Simultaneously, the company has also launched two new products to support Digital Equipment Corporation's computing platforms. These are a first release of its leading product Orbix for Digital OpenVMS and version 2.2 of Orbix on Digital UNIX 4.0. Iona already supports Windows NT running on Digital's Alpha platforms and earlier releases of UNIX. AUGUST'S SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES DOWN BY 1,000 - The seasonally-adjusted unemployment figure fell by 1,000 during the month of August to 254,100. This leaves 258,473 people signing the register, a drop of 568 for the month. Compared with the same time last year, there are 29,100 fewer people signing on and close to 12,300 of these are from the under-25 age group. Further analysis of the figures shows that Dublin and the south-east experienced the largest decreases while unemployment rose in the midlands, the mid-east and the south-west. VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT TO INCREASE EMPLOYMENT AT DUNDALK S/W FIRM - A relatively new Irish software company based in Dundalk, RFT Vision Systems, is to be the recipient of an IR250k cash injection from ICC Venture Capital. In return for the capital, ICC will take a 25% share in the company. RFT was set up just two years ago by Fergus O'Donnell and three brothers, Joe, Mike and Pat English. Prior to embarking on the venture, all four held senior management positions with US multinationals in Ireland and claim to have a cumulative total of 100 years' experience between them. The company designs computer systems which monitor manufacturing processes and has already supplied companies such as Guinness and Panasonic. The company plans to use the investment to expand into the UK market, invest in new technology and increase its workforce from 8 to 20 people. STATOIL ABANDONS TEST DRILLING IN THE CONNEMARA FIELD - The Norwegian state oil company Statoil has decided to cease its exploration efforts in the Connemara Field, 100 miles off the Galway coast. The decision was made after a second test drill failed to produce encouraging results. The company found that, while oil was present in the field, it did not exist in "commercial quantities". Statoil said it would resume testing off the west coast next year sometime as part of a joint project being carried out with the oil company Arco. GUINNESS SEEKS APPROVAL OF COMPETITION AUTHORITY FOR TAKEOVER OF UBH - Embarrassment over an administrative error at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment which in turn prevented the referral of the Guinness/UBH takeover to the Competition Authority, has been alleviated now that Guinness itself has opted to refer the deal to the regulatory body. The decision by Guinness was made despite the fact that the beverage conglomerate believed its move would not "in any way contravene the Competition Authority". The Minister, Mary Harney, declared herself happy with the outcome, saying that the deal would now be reviewed by the authority as she had originally intended. KERRY GROUP ADMITS INTEREST IN ACQUIRING DIVISION OF UK DALGETY GROUP - As promised last week at the announcement of its interim results, the Kerry Group has stated its interest in making a number of acquisitions in the food industry. While it has expressly singled out the Far East and South America as potential target markets, in an interview with the Sunday Tribune its managing director Denis Brosnan disclosed that it would also be interested in making a bid for the food ingredients division of the UK group Dalgety, which is expected to be offered for sale later this month. Industry analysts have described the potential acquisition as a very good fit for the Kerry Group as Dalgety is the market leader in the ingredients business in Europe, a position which the Kerry Group enjoys in the US. CSO'S FIRST QUARTERLY NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY TO COMMENCE THIS WEEK - The Central Statistics Office has this week launched its new Quarterly National Household Survey which will replace the annual Labour Force Survey which produced data on employment trends. The new survey will involve a team of 140 trained enumerators, who will be equipped with laptop computers for direct input, and they will interview 39,000 households each quarter. Results are expected to be available within three months compared with the eight-month lag that followed completion of the Labour Force Survey, carried out each April. The new survey will cost IR3m to undertake annually and the change will bring Ireland in line with the majority of EU countries which have moved to compiling their employment data on a quarterly basis. CENTRAL BANK BULLETIN PRESENTS VERY OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK FOR ECONOMY - The state of the economy received an extremely clean bill of health in the Central Bank's most recent quarterly bulletin. In summary, the bank has predicted a higher rate of economic growth, reduced its inflation forecast and remains optimistic about unemployment levels. Summing up, the bank's assistant director general Dr Michael Casey said: "Everything is going very well. There is rapid growth and stability. Unemployment is coming right and the current inflation numbers are comforting". MINISTER AND BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE DISCUSS SOFTWARE PIRACY - At a meeting with representatives of the Business Software Alliance (Ireland), Tom Kitt, the Minister for State with responsibility for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs, reiterated the Government's concern about the level of software piracy in Ireland and its commitment to introducing effective legislation to help combat the problem. The Alliance is an international agency which was set up to fight the huge problem of software theft. During the meeting, the BSA made a submission to the Minister detailing the changes required to Irish copyright legislation to inhibit the growth of piracy. In response, the Minister assured the BSA that its recommendations would be taken into account when preparing the promised Copyright Bill. GOODBODY STOCKBROKERS REPORTS ON IRISH SOFTWARE COMPANIES GOING PUBLIC - A number of Irish companies in the information technology sector have been identified in a report by Goodbody Stockbrokers as likely to seek stock exchange listings within the next two years. The report specifically mentions Datalex, Piercom, Trintech and Raidtec as candidates for a Nasdaq listing while Softco, Card Services International, MDS Telephone Systems, Softech Telecom and Lake Communications are considered suited to the Irish stock exchange. The report appears to recommend a dual listing for companies though, where they get the high profile that goes with the US Nasdaq. Goodbody's predicts that by the end of this decade, approximately 5% of the value of the Irish stock exchange will be contributed by high technology companies. A separate section of the report lists the challenges facing the Irish software sector, specifically the continuous need to develop new products, the difficulties of reaching world-wide markets and the effects of possible skill shortages. The report is titled "Information Technology - the Irish Opportunity". IONA INTRODUCES INTERNET READY CORBA WITH ORBIXWEB 3.0 - Iona was again in the news today when it unveiled the latest release of its Java-CORBA development environment, OrbixWeb 3.0, which it describes as "a complete solution for the creation of Java-based Internet applications". At the announcement Annrai O'Toole, chief technical officer at IONA Technologies commented, "We continue our dominance in the Java CORBA space - this release is teeming with features, enhancements and aggressive new paradigms for building on-line Internet applications". To download an evaluation copy of OrbixWeb 3.0 please visit: or for further information contact: LOGICA EXPECTED TO PROCEED WITH RECRUITMENT PLANS AT ALDISCON - Though no actual plans have been detailed by the company, Logica, the new owner of the Dublin software company, Aldiscon, is expected to increase employment by up to 50 people. Logica's corporate development manager Mario Anid stated that it was happy with its recent acquisition and that it was "very committed to developing its new subsidiary". Prior to the takeover just six weeks ago, Aldiscon had proposed increasing its workforce from 240 to almost 300 people. Logica has just reported a 14% rise in pre-tax profits to Stg28m and a 19% increase in sales revenue to Stg339m for the year ended June. ABT PROMOTES IRISH FINANCIAL SOFTWARE COMPANIES IN LONDON - Specialist Irish software companies such as Kindle, Sybex, Vision and McKeowns were guests of An Bord Trachtala (The Irish Trade Board) at an event held in London this week to bring their expertise in financial software to the attention of the banking and financial sectors there. According to ABT a high percentage of senior positions in the London financial scene are occupied by Irish people and ABT is hopeful that by using its contacts with these people, it can win new contracts for Irish software companies. It is an extremely attractive market for Irish software companies specialising in the design of financial software. An estimated Stg5.6bn will be spent on software by Britain's financial institutions this year alone. This amounts to 28% of the overall spending on software in Britain. ENTROPY ANNOUNCES IMPROVEMENTS TO WRQ'S CONNECTIVITY PRODUCTS - Entropy, the Irish company which specialises in Internet connectivity and security, has announced improvements to WRQ's widely used Reflection PC-to-host connectivity products. The upcoming autumn releases will support ActiveX, providing a first step for organisations wishing to integrate their corporate hosts with intranets. A spokesperson for entropy said that the new releases will "provide powerful enterprise connectivity via a browser on Windows 95 and Windows NT desktops". 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