1,800 NI jobs fail to materialise

Textile industry decline costs 1800 jobs in Northern Ireland

A giant Taiwanese textile firm has decided not to locate in Northern Ireland and 1,800 jobs promised when the deal was first conceived six years ago will now not materialise.

The deal between Hualon and the Industrial Development Board, which would have meant a £160m investment by Hualon backed by £60m in grants, was finally pronounced dead on Friday after six years of negotiations and legal wrangling.

The decision by Hualon not to locate in Northern Ireland is good news for British textile manufacturers who fought a long legal battle against the Taiwanese textile giant locating in the UK.

They feared that many jobs would have been killed in the British textile industry had Hualon gone ahead with their plans.

The British Apparel and Textile Confederation had contested the project in the European Courts over several years. The project was finally given the go-ahead by the court in 1997.

No grant money had been paid over to Taiwanese firm: IDB

Difficulties being experienced by the textile industry world-wide and in Northern Ireland mean that the IDB's attitude to the deal had cooled considerably since it was first proposed in 1993.

Jobs have been cut in NI's most prominent textile firms, sports and leisurewear manufacturer, Fruit of the Loom.

The project was to have been located in Ballyhenry Business Park in Co Antrim and now the IDB is redoubling its efforts to attract another high profile project to the site.

IDB Chief Executive, Bruce Robinson confirmed that no grants had been paid over to the Taiwanese firm.

The Hualon project was the largest business project to be publicly funded since the Delorean sports car venture ended disastrously in the 1980's.