With the recent news that 200 jobs are to be created over a four year period by IT company, Neueda Technologies, Athlone is fast becoming a thriving employer in the software industry.
The announcement was met with a positive reaction at the company’s Athlone headquarters in the Shannon Retail Park with local dignitaries in attendance to hear the welcome news.
Town Mayor, Cllr. Frankie Keena, acknowledged the work of Neueda Technologie Managing Director, Mr. Paul Madden and IDA in their quest to open a base in Athlone.
“Thanks to the endless work put in by Paul Madden a former employee of Ericsson & strongly supported by the IDA, Neueda Technologies Ireland is now established in Athlone, offering a high end engineering hub giving immediate employment to 75 skilled software engineers with the aim to employ 200 people over next four years. As Mayor of Athlone Municipal District, I would like to warmly welcome Neueda Technologies to Athlone and most importantly to sincerely thank Paul and his team for choosing this progressive town as the location for their valued company,” Cllr. Keena commented.
Cllr. Keena noted the obvious factors for choosing Athlone as a location for Neueda Technologies.
“I am sure that factors such as the presence of the Athlone Institute of Technology, a talented educated workforce, a location of choice which offers excellent recreation & amenity facilities, top class road and rail networks providing great connectivity to airports, were all factors in choosing Athlone. These are some of the key points that helps IDA Ireland with their work in attracting FDI into this country,” the Mayor highlighted.
Noting the close proximity of Neueda Technologies to the long established Ericsson software campus, Cllr. Keena encoraged networking between both companies.
“The location of Neueda Technologies in close proximity to the Ericsson Software Campus in Athlone creates an important clustering of IT companies. This positive practice offers opportunities for increased collaboration between industry and research, better networking and greater synergy between the companies. Such initiatives will create an environment for other IT companies to locate here,” Cllr. Keena enthused.
Adding that he hoped this jobs development would lead to further employment announcements in the locality in the near future, the Mayor concluded by wishing Neuede Technologies every success with their Athlone venture.
Minister Denis Naughten also lauded the jobs announcement.
“This announcement Neueda Technologies is a major employment boost to Athlone which is fast becoming the silicon heartlands with the town set to have a bigger percentage of the workforce employed in software development than any town or city in Ireland or the UK,” stated Minister Naughten.
“With current employment levels in the sector locally, along with job announcements and others set to be formally made, Athlone is set to have 15 percent of its workforce in the software sector which puts is well ahead of Dublin and its Silicon Docks.
“With towns such as Roscommon having an abundance of ready to move into office space and with a new incubation hub about to become operational in Ballinasloe, other towns in the region are set to benefit from this major growth in the tech sector in Ireland’s Heartlands,” Deputy Naughten concluded.
