NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 11 July
11-07-2007
by Ciara O'Brien
Teleflex Medical to create 150 new jobs | No resolution to pay dispute at Eircom
The Midlands is set for a jobs boost, with up to 150 new jobs announced on Wednesday afternoon at US-based Teleflex Medical. The medical devices company, which has operations in Limerick, is establishing its European headquarters at the IDA Business & Technology Park in Athlone. The jobs will be created over five years in areas such as multilingual customer service, finance, HR, IT, planning and administration. The company designs, manufactures and markets medical devices and the new European headquarters will help the firm expand further. The new investment was welcomed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin.
The dispute at Eircom rumbled on after talks between unions and management broke up without resolution on Wednesday. The hour-long meeting saw the telecoms firm present an eight-point proposal to settle the union's complaint regarding a 2 percent pay increase. However Eircom said the union refused to discuss the proposals with the company -- which included two further pay increases -- unless they received a guaranteed payment date for the 2 percent increase first. The company is now facing strike action from members of the Communication Workers Union.
Meanwhile, antivirus software provider ESET is to provide a new online scanning service for users with an internet connection. The service will work without requiring users to uninstall their existing antivirus software, and will allow users to scan for and remove viruses, spyware, and other malware from their system. The service is designed to give users the chance to test ESET's antivirus product before buying the full product.
Ireland is middle of the road when it comes to IT competitiveness, a new survey has revealed. The Economist Intelligence Unit's IT industry competitiveness index placed Ireland 15th in the chart, ahead of countries such as Germany, France, and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the US, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom provide the strongest environments for IT competitiveness. The table took into account a number of factors, including ample supply of skills, an innovation-friendly culture, world-class technology infrastructure, a robust legal regime and well-balanced government support.
Irish IT firm Nostra Systems has become a Microsoft partner only six months after it was established -- a record time for the tech firm's programme. Nostra, which offers remote support to customers, is now a Microsoft Certified Partner, and supplies, installs and maintains file and e-mail servers, provides security solutions for office networks and VoIP, along with Rapid Remote Problem Resolution, web based support, Performance and Predictive failure monitoring.
Elsewhere, Stokes Bio has appointed Dr Jim Walsh as chief executive. The firm, which is a scientific research spin-off from the Stokes Research Institute at University of Limerick, is due to launch a number of patented inventions in the life sciences and cancer diagnostics sectors.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 