Over 100 jobs set for Galway as leading medical company opens new facility
Located in Westlink Commercial Park, the opening of the new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility marks a 'significant' milestone for the company.
The new facility will create 125 new highly skilled jobs by the end of 2028 and will serve as the central hub to produce the company's Neuromark system.
The Neuromark system is a minimally invasive medical device designed to target the underlying drivers of chronic rhinitis.
The new jobs will range across key functions in engineering, quality control, operations, supply chain management, and sales and marketing.
Originating from the Enterprise Ireland-supported BioInnovate Ireland Programme, Neurent Medical has grown from concept to commercialisation within a decade, emerging as one of Ireland's MedTech success stories.
The official opening event was celebrated with Galway West TD Hildegarde Naughton TD and executive director and incoming CEO of Enterprise Ireland Jenny Melia.
Brian Shields, CEO of Neurent Medical, said the company is proud to upgrade its operations in Galway, where the company is headquartered.
'Our new Westlink facility gives us the manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand for NEUROMARK, while creating high skilled employment opportunities and contributing to economic vitality in the west of Ireland,' he said.
'As an Irish-founded company, we're excited to manufacture our product locally with the exceptional skills available and deliver Irish-engineered MedTech innovation to the world.'
Ms Melia said the announcement of new jobs for the new Oranmore base shows that Ireland is a research and development leader within the medical device space.
"Supporting Irish companies with the ambition to scale globally is a key priority for Enterprise Ireland and we will continue to work closely with Brian and the team at Neurent Medical to optimise their full international growth potential, creating and sustaining jobs here in the Galway region," she added.
Deputy Naughton noted that Galway is home to eight of the world's top 10 MedTech companies.
"It is also highly notable that this is an Irish company, supported by Enterprise Ireland, and selling into the US market. I have no doubt, given their impressive growth to date, that this will be but one of many major achievements for the company," she added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Port of Cork set to open €100m deepwater berth dedicated to offshore energy development
The Port of Cork is poised to become the first port in the Republic to deliver dedicated quay facilities for the offshore renewable energy sector through a new €100m development. The 200-metre long CORE1 (Cork Offshore Renewable Energy 1) deepwater berth at Ringaskiddy East will be ready for use by October, port officials have said. It will have the length, depth, and load-bearing capacities required by companies that will build the large-scale offshore wind farms proposed for the Irish and Celtic seas. However, the Port of Cork Company has said it will need additional land and funding to provide the full range of dedicated quayside facilities that the sector requires if it is to help Ireland achieve its ambitious targets to create at least 37GW of offshore renewable energy generation capacity by 2050 — about six times our current peak electricity demand. The port company set out its progress on offshore renewable energy infrastructure for EU Commissioner Michael McGrath and his officials during a visit to the CORE1 project, which is being co-financed by the EU to the tune of some €38m. 'It would not have happened without a grant from the EU,' the port's commercial officer Conor Mowlds said. 'But there are challenges facing the port now after handing over 30-acres for offshore renewable energy (ORE). "However, Cork has the potential to become the centre of gravity to support Ireland's ORE sector — similar to what happened to Aberdeen during the North Sea oil boom.' Mr McGrath said that, given the scale of EU funding involved, he wanted to see the project first-hand and be briefed on where it fits within the Port of Cork's overall capital development ambitions. 'They have very ambitious plans for the years ahead, which will have to be brought forward in a phased manner and will require extensive consultation with the local community, statutory processes will have to be followed, and then funding packages put together," he said.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: In the era of AI, education is at a premium
While the rush by companies to crowbar artificial intelligence into every product imaginable continues — even if it's not actually artificial intelligence and just tools that are good at predicting the answer you're looking for — the technology is already showing detrimental effects on the human mind. A study published this month by researchers at MIT, with an admittedly very small sample size, suggests that the use of ChatGPT and similar tools results in reduced cognition, which is essential for independent critical thinking: 'Over four months, LLM [large language model] users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning. The rush from AI opponents online was to say something like 'AI makes you stupid', but that is both inaccurate and unfair. Still, the technology isn't going away any time soon, and quite apart from the environmental and, apparently, mental damage we had a warning just this past week that AI could come to the detriment of Irish jobs. Members of the AI Advisory Council — made up of 15 independent experts who advise the Government on Ireland's AI strategy — appeared at an Oireachtas committee to say that they predict software engineers, junior lawyers, and customer service jobs to be the first to take the hit. They note that entry-level programming jobs are already being replaced by AI, as the industry behind the technology applies it to itself first. But whether the technology ends up augmenting or replacing the humans in the loop remains to be seen, largely because most large-scale experiments seem to be giving mixed results at best. Tesla finally launched its seemingly eternally promised autonomous driving taxis in Texas (with a person sitting in the front seat by the way, even if not driving), only for them to make a plethora of basic driving errors. While the shareholders seem happy, especially after the first quarter's debacle on the back of Elon Musk's dalliance with government and despite slumping Tesla car sales generally, whether this will prove a triumph in the long road — pun very much intended — remains to be seen. That doesn't mean that the tech giants aren't prepared to gamble big on automation or artificial intelligence. Last week, Amazon, which employs some 6,500 people here in Ireland and 1.5m worldwide, told staff that AI would probably mean a reduction in the total number of employees, possibly replacing some of its current corporate staff. Microsoft is preparing to lay off another 6,000 people while it simultaneously increases spending on AI. The cuts are across sales and other teams, and the talk is of 'trimming' the workforce and 'aligning it' with company strategy (it still has 2.28m other employees). Microsoft should be warned, though, about expecting an AI solution to bridge any workforce gap: Payments platform Klarna laid off 700 people in 2022 only to have to scramble to rehire many when its AI tool wasn't up to the task of customer service. The head of the AI company Anthropic has claimed that half of all entry-level jobs could be replaced by artificial intelligence — but then, he would say that, wouldn't he? That said, the IMF has previously noted that as much as 60% of jobs in advanced economies are exposed to AI, and not all for the better. Good news, then, that in recent weeks University College Cork has risen in the international university rankings, holding a space in the top 1% globally. It shows that quality education is still in demand, and with it the training in critical thinking and reasoning that will stand to the whole of society in the long run. There are ways that AI tools and apps can be beneficial, but right now the biggest return on investment for the technology has been wanton devastation of climate and copyright. Employment equality With the last school now shut for the summer, we face into a time that prior to covid would have been increasingly fraught for working parents — not just keeping their children entertained, but physically kept hale and hearty while they are off working in an office. The rise of hybrid, flexible, and remote working options has, if not put paid to that, at least made it more easy to navigate for some, though not all. And it must be acknowledged that a great many jobs have never been able to allow for remote or hybrid options, such as retail or manufacturing. Still, for parents of young and not so young children, being able to be physically present in their youngsters' lives represents time reclaimed, with all the emotional and relationship development benefits that brings. Doubly so for the parents or carers of children with disabilities, for whom summer camps and other such activities might be a pipe dream. One might expect that remote and hybrid working, meanwhile, would have levelled the playing field for our disabled citizens. And, while there is evidence generally that more people with disabilities have been able to access employment in the Western world, Ireland is lagging behind. Last week's Feelgood pages noted that Ireland's disability employment rate of 32.6% is not only way below the EU average of 51.3%, but is the absolute bottom of the EU table. More than 1.1m people in this republic have at least one long-lasting condition according to census figures, with some 350,000 experiencing difficulty taking part in activities, and just over 300,000 experiencing a difficulty working at a job or attending school or college. Not all disabilities are visible. Disabled workers find a plethora of obstacles in their way, from losing their social protection payments to the interview and testing process, to not even being part of the conversation because they are not targeted for recruitment. Many companies offer adaptations to work environments, and there are other supports available to firms. The American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer once said: 'Nobody is free until everybody is free.' Isn't it time we did a better job of ensuring that our citizens who face obstacles are given the same freedom as everybody else?
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Taoiseach to begin Japan trip focused on bilateral links
Updated / Monday, 30 Jun 2025 00:01 Taoiseach Micheál Martin is to begin a four-day tour across three cities in Japan, which will focus on bilateral relationships, trade and cultural links. It is the latest in a series of visits by members of the Cabinet to the country following a recent visit by Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke. In Tokyo, the first city on his visit, the Taoiseach will meet with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Japan is Ireland's second largest trading partner in the region, with total trade between the two countries amounting to more than €21 billion. Speaking ahead of his visit, the Taoiseach said: "In an increasingly complex geopolitical environment, Japan is an important strategic partner for Ireland on the global stage." "Ireland and Japan are very like-minded on the major issues facing the world and I look forward to exchanging views with Prime Minister Ishiba and discussing how to strengthen the ties between our two countries." He will also officially open Ireland House Tokyo - the new home of the Irish Embassy, and trade and investment agencies. Mr Martin will then travel to Osaka, where he will attend Expo 2025. The Government hopes the event, with its projected 28 milllion visitors, will raise Ireland's profile in Japan. On the final day of his visit, Mr Martin will travel to Hiroshima, where he will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph to mark 80 years since the atomic bombing. Mr Martin said he was honoured to visit Hiroshima "to remember all those who died as a result of the atomic bombing 80 years ago". "The memorial at Hiroshima is a stark reminder to us all of the devastation wrought by nuclear war and the importance of peace and stability across the world," he said.
