February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — Electronics manufacturing company MSL — set up by a Wicklow man after he lost his job when Digital closed eight years ago — is expanding and creating 700 jobs in Galway and Athlone.
Kevin Melia established the company five years ago and it now employs 5,000 people worldwide in designing and manufacturing systems and components for the electronics industry.
The company already employs 300 in Athlone, where 100 of the jobs will be created, and the other 600 will go to a plant in Galway.
Tony Boyle, vice president of operations, said their industry is growing at the rate of 25 to 30 percent a year.
Tanaiste Mary Harney described the company as a tremendous success story and said it is very significant that it is expanding at home.
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Ireland is one of the few countries in the world where employment in manufacturing is growing, with most new jobs going to low-cost countries in Asia, Central Europe or North Africa.