United Fish Industries receives approval for major Killybegs investment

An Board Pleanala (ABP) has approved United Fish Industries’ (UFI)’s planning application for the construction of a new €60m fishmeal and fish oil manufacturing facility in Killybegs, Co. Donegal. The state-of-the-art facility will be situated alongside the new Fishery Harbour Centre in Killybegs. Construction of the new facility will take approximately two years.

Welcoming the decision of ABP, John Healy, Managing Director of UFI said “This favorable decision underpins Killybegs as Ireland’s premier fishing port and further reinforces UFI’s commitment to the industry. The decision gives a massive boost to the morale of all our staff who have given so much commitment to this industry”.

Referring to the recently published Cawley report ‘Steering a New Course’ (PDF) Healy said “ The Cawley report spells out clearly how the industry’s long term development is dependent on attracting as much landings of fish into Ireland as possible, both from domestic and foreign vessels. It is of paramount importance that the necessary infrastructure is in place to attract these vessels.  The new fishmeal factory is a vital piece of infrastructure and will ensure an efficient turnaround of vessels as well as supporting the local processing and service industry”.

UFI is a subsidiary of Origin Enterprises plc which is a leading Agri-Nutrition and Food Company listed on the IEX and AIM markets of the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. The Agri-Nutrition division, through its manufacturing and distribution operations in Ireland and the United Kingdom, has leading market positions in the supply of feed ingredients, crop nutrition and specialist marine proteins. The Group’s Food division, comprising sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing activities in Ireland, has leadership positions in ambient food across retail, food service and manufacturing sectors.