10 March 2010  

McCREA WELCOMES MAJOR INVESTMENT AT DALE FARM, COOKSTOWN

DUP Mid Ulster MLA Ian McCrea has welcomed the announcement from the Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster that two investments totalling £39million will be made to benefit the NI Dairy Processing Industry.

Following the announcement Ian McCrea said:

“I was delighted that the Minster Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster was in Cookstown today to officially open the new £5million state of the art cheddar cheese making facility at Dale Farm and her announcement of investment totalling £39million is great news for the Dairy Industry locally and across Northern Ireland as it is the largest single investment by Invest NI to the Dairy sector.

The fact that Dale farm are investing £36million proves they are a company going forward with a view of creating jobs but more importantly sustaining the jobs of their current workers.

Although this investment will be across three of Dale Farm sites I am especially delighted with the news that they are investing £16.3million at their Dunman factory to increase cheese and whey processing, focussing on more added-value products.

I have no doubt that this will benefit Dale farm as a company but it will more importantly benefit the wider dairy sector locally who supply Dunman.

Arlene Foster as DETI minister has once again shown the DUP’s vision of investing in our local economy especially during this global economic downturn and delivering for the people of Northern Ireland ."