Kilkenny Cllr says not enough new jobs are being created at Abbey Quarter

Concerns are being raised about the prospects for new jobs to be created in the future at Kilkenny’s new Abbey Quarter.

Maria Dollard was reacting on KCLR Live about the plans for Glanbia to become the anchor tenant at the new Brewhouse building.

The hope from the outset was that up to a thousand jobs would be created on the site but it’s not clear if many new posts will be coming on stream if Glanbia are simply relocating from their other offices in the city.

Councillor Dollard says: ‘’We did not get any announcement of jobs, we haven’t got that. And I don’t know of the capacity of the Brewery in terms of the numbers that can work down there, but if wouldn’t be anything like (the 1,000) even if they were to fill up the rest of the spaces with new jobs. And there will be other companies going in there as well, but my understanding is that they are also relocating from other offices in Kilkenny.’’

Fianna Fáil Councillor Pat Fitzpatrick says more is happening behind the scenes but some details are under wraps for now: ‘’ I certainly believe there will be new jobs in there. I can’t quantify them but, please God, with a Kilkenny brand leading the way in the Abbey quarter it’s a good start … but we just need to see the pace being picked up.’’