DAIRYGOLD GO-AHEAD ‘An Historic Day For Mallow’

The creation of 100 direct and indirect jobs, as well as a significant number of construction jobs, is in the pipeline after Cork County Council granted planning permission for a €120 million upgrade and extension to the Dairygold complex at Annabella, Mallow. If there is no appeal against the planning permission the co-op will have the green light to proceed with the expansion plan. The news was warmly welcomed by Minister for Jobs Seán Sherlock, who said that as well as creating jobs the expansion would secure the Mallow operation as a vital site for milk pro-duction into the future. The minister commended Dairygold for the open nature of their approach to making the planning application, saying, “Dairygold have endeavoured at all times to ensure that all stakeholders had an opportunity to have input, and this has yielded very positive results.”

Mayor Noel O’Connor described the decision to approve planning as an historic day for Mallow, saying it could result in the reinvigoration of the town.

He praised Dairygold CEO Jim Woulfe and his management team and wished the farmers in the co-op every success. “This will secure the future prosperity of not only the farming community of North Cork but also the urban dwellers and businesses in Mallow,” he said. Mallow Chamber President Mary Kelly added her congratulations, saying “This is as good as any multinational investment in our town, and we want this project to happen as quickly as possible, as jobs and economic prosperity are hard to come by at this time.” A statement from Mallow Development Part-nership warmly welcomed the news, stating that Dairygold’s decision to undertake such a huge capital investment in Mallow was a tremendous economic boost to the town and would help restore Mallow’s pre-eminence as a major location for agri-industry.

Dairygold currently employs 135 people in milk processing and related laboratories, and in administration in the co-op’s West End offices. Subject to there being no objection to the planning application, work on the redevelopment of the site could begin in 2013, creating badly-needed construction jobs, and when completed there could be 100 direct and indirect jobs. A spokes-person for Dairygold said the regeneration of the Mallow site would gen-erate local economic con-fidence and substantial additional spending in Mallow town, and would also provide a great boost to the local food and agricultural sector in Munster. The spokesperson added that the co-op appreciates the extensive goodwill shown to Dairygold by the many stakeholders in Mallow and its area since the project was first announced last May.