Taoiseach to open €14m factory expansion in Birr

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will officially open the new €14m extension to Grant Engineering's facility in Birr tomorrow afternoon (Friday, January 17).

The state-of-the-art extension includes an R&D innovation centre, customer services centre, a dedicated training academy featuring an auditorium and training suite, and an extension to the existing manufacturing facilities which has seen investment in robotics and automation.

When the firm announced its plans for the expansion in 2016, it said that 50 new jobs would be created. It currently employs over 300 workers in Ireland. 

Cllr John Carroll says that the Birr area is "very lucky" to have an "indigenous company providing lots of good, well paid jobs".

"It's fantastic to see it growing so much and to show so much confidence in the area. In the last number of years there has been so much doom and gloom around Brexit, but it's great see an investment like this in a town like Birr."

Cllr Carroll also noted that Grant Engineering has moved with the times and developed a range of environmentally friendly products. He also said that the expansion of the company into the UK and Europe from its base in Birr is a "fantastic example" for local people with entrepreneurial ambitions.

Founded by Stephen Grant in 1978, the firm, based in Crinkle, close to Birr is Ireland's leading engineering company and designs and manufactures a range of highly efficient heating products including Vortex condensing oil boilers, Aerona3 R32 air source heat pumps, solar thermal panels and pre-plumbed hot water cylinders.

The company has recently diversified its offering to include heat emitters ranges - Afinia aluminium and Solo fan convector radiators and Uflex underfloor heating which are key features of its full home heating solution.