Galway County Council has welcomed the announcement today that 1,000 permanent new jobs will be created in the Athenry area by medtech firm Dexcom.
The IDA announced that Dexcom has chosen Athenry as the location for a €300 million global manufacturing facility.
Cllr Michael (Moegie) Maher, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, described the announcement as a “game-changer for Athenry and the Galway economy”.
He expressed his hope that the investment by Dexcom will encourage other multinationals to consider the West of Ireland as an investment location.
“This announcement is a massive shot in the arm for the local economy,” added Cllr Maher.
“It is vote of confidence in Galway and one that I hope will encourage Irish medical technology firms and other multinationals that are considering investing in the County or expanding their footprint in the wider region.”
The IDA has confirmed that the Dexcom facility in Athenry will contain a highly automated and efficient manufacturing operation with an emphasis on green technologies.
Dexcom expects to provide about 500 construction jobs while the facility is being built and up to 1,000 high tech graduate and technician level positions once the site is running at full capacity.
Cllr Liam Carroll, Cathaoirleach of Athenry Municipal District, commented, “The future economic growth of Galway depends on the continued investments of companies like Dexcom.”
“I want to congratulate officials from Galway County Council and the IDA for working together to identify a suitable site for this considerable investment and for further strengthening Galway’s position as a driver of regional economic growth.”
Liam Conneally, Chief Executive of Galway County Council, said today’s announcement follows many months of engagement between the IDA and the Local Authority on the overall project.
“We are working closely with the IDA and Dexcom to facilitate a quick start-up of the initial phase of the operation through the provision of office space in our town centre”.
“We look forward to the development of this significant national project in Athenry and the transition to the IDA site for which planning permission is expected to be sought in the coming months,” explained Mr. Conneally.
Mr. Conneally noted that the investment is strongly rooted in Galway’s global reputation for the medtech industry, the quality of the workforce and its status as a place where people want to work and live.
