Eircom Jobs Boost For NI

A major Irish telecoms company is doubling its workforce in Belfast to 60.

The move comes after eircom won a substantial set of new contracts - including a major three-year deal with NI Water.

The announcement was made today as Stormont Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster opened the company's new offices in the city.

The Minister welcomed eircom's £8.5 million investment in Northern Ireland and their plans for a further injection of funds in the coming months.

"It is particularly good news in these challenging economic times that eircom Northern Ireland has plans for a further £1.5 million investment over the next 12 months, bringing the company's investment here to over £10 million."

She added: "I also welcome eircom's plans to create a further 30 high value graduate jobs as a result of recent bid successes.

"These include today's announcement of a major contract, worth over £600,000 over three years, from NI Water for infrastructure management services," she said, also noting that the presence of eircom in Northern Ireland represented a significant step in the development of the province's telecommunication market.

It is the second piece of good news in high-tech jobs this week as another Dublin-based telecoms company, Intune Networks, announced it was creating nearly 80 jobs in Belfast at a new R&D centre.

Invest Northern Ireland is to support the £9.27million investment by the company.

Based in the Republic of Ireland, Intune Networks builds highly advanced optical networking platforms for high definition video and IT services.

The company has now established a new Research & Development Centre in Belfast which will create up to 77 new high-skilled ICT positions by 2010.

Invest NI has offered £983,000 towards the project, which includes part funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

See: Dublin IT Company Invests In NI

(BMcC/JM)