Other NI Business News In Brief

Fishing For Success

Revolutionary cooking technology pioneered by a Kilkeel company is expanding export markets for its range of langoustines and other shellfish. Rooney Fish - assisted by Invest Northern Ireland - is developing the innovative processing technology to expand into European markets and to implement a new quality standard, is also working with a team of chefs to create a range of meal ideas featuring its broad range of products. Rooney Fish is the leading supplier of fresh, chilled and now cooked langoustines and other shellfish to customers in Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Russia. It has been assisted by Invest NI to achieve SALSA, (Safe and Local Supplier Approval), a major UK quality accreditation. The company has become the first graduate from Invest NI's pilot programme to assist 15 local businesses in achieving the SALSA standard. It has also used other Invest NI trade promotion programmes to develop sales in European markets. The new and fully automated cooking machinery for langoustines is a world first for the Northern Ireland company and was developed in response to a market opportunity, particularly from food retailers in France, for pre-cooked langoustines.

Craigavon Boosted

The formulation of a regeneration strategy, aimed at revitalising the Craigavon area, has got underway. According to Stormont Minister Margaret Ritchie, who was launching work on the town's Integrated Development Framework: "The framework will help by identifying the full regeneration potential of the area as a whole and will provide a basis on which my department can use its regeneration powers, if necessary, to ensure realisation of this potential." The Minister said appointed consultants, Tribal Consulting Ltd, will work closely with both public and private sector interests, particularly those who trade or own land in the area. The proposals will identify key sites for regeneration, in particular how surplus land can be exploited to assist in the regeneration of the three town centres in Craigavon.

Eco Centre Opens

A new Environment and Renewable Energy Centre has officially opened at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Hillsborough, Co Down. The new research centre, which has already initiated a wide ranging renewable energy research programme, was lauded by Rural Affairs Minister Michelle Gildernew. Ms Gildernew said: "The research programme has the initial focus of developing the opportunities for agriculture and forestry to generate renewable energy from indigenous resources such as animal manures, biomass crops and forest brash. "Technologies which could improve the viability of biomass crops such as the use of farm dirty water to irrigate short rotation coppice (SRC) willows, improved planting systems for miscanthus (elephant grass), and more efficient biomass crop drying systems, are being investigated at Hillsborough."

(BMcC/JM)