1996/99
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ALWAYS COCA COLA
18 March 1998
Editorial
Slainte! We raise our glasses (of coke) to day to Coca Cola and welcome them to Mayo. Their decision to locate in Ballina is indeed most welcome at a period when the economic future of North Mayo looked bleak.
They will construct a state-of-the art $160 million (£115m) processing plant on a 100 acre green field sit at Belleek. The complex will cover 500,000 square feet and will be the largest global undertaking ever by the company, which has current market value of $165 billion.
The impact of the development will be enormous with over 1,000 construction jobs and major spin-off opportunities for local companies.
But the Coca Cola move to Ballina would not have been achieved without the thorough and professional background work of Mayo County Manager, Des Mahon and his team.
Indeed, their contribution to the successful procurement of this industry was referred to several times at the Ballina press conference to announce details of the project.
The land parcel had to be purchased form several owners and guarantees of the necessary services had to be made by the local authorities.
The willingness of Mayo County Council to literally bend-over-backways to accommodate Coca Cola is evident of the priority which Mr. Mahon and his officinals made of the Ballina situation.
The chief executive of Forbairt, Mr. Dan Flinter and Coca Cola's Assistant Vice-President and Director, Global Concentrate Manufacturing, James Higgins, were loud in their praise of Mr. Mahon's efforts. Indeed they were paramount in securing this industry, as was the willingness of the various land owners to make the site available.
The new plant will be operational by July of 1999 and will supply the magic Coca Cola concentrate to bottlers on four continents.
This is a major breakthrough on the jobs front, not alone for Ballina but for Mayo in general. There will be many benefits which will filter through to the local community. One will be the use of the Iarnrod Eireann facilities at Ballina station.
Asahi, prior to their closure last December used the Ballina-Dublin line to transport highly toxic chemicals to and from Dublin port.
Now nothing more that the fizzy concentrate will be ferried out of the North Mayo capital come the middle of 1999.
Coca Cola can be assured a warm Irish welcome to Mayo where they will find a well educated, highly skilled and motivated workforce willing to fill the 150 jobs which their move will create.
Connaught Telegraph - News & Sport - March 1998
