Dale Farm investment a welcome boost to local economy

Mid Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong has welcomed the announcement by Dale Farm that it is to invest £39 million at its three sites in Northern Ireland, including one in Cookstown.

The investment will create 60 new jobs and secure 400 existing ones and also benefit the 2,000 Northern Ireland farmers who own the business and supply it with milk.

Mr Armstrong said;

"Mid-Ulster has suffered terribly in the current Recession, so the investment in a cheddar cheese plant and a whey ultra-filtration plant in Dunmanbridge, Cookstown is most welcome news indeed.

Dale Farm is a locally owned farmer's co-operative and this is exactly the sort of investment which is required to keep it at the forefront of the agri-food industry, producing high quality food and securing local jobs in the process.

I would appeal to the public to support local companies like Dale Farm, because when they buy local produce they know they can be assured that they are not only purchasing food of the highest quality, but are supporting local jobs and the local economy.

Indeed, I would urge that this principle of seeking to help the local economy by prioritising local products should be the first choice of Government and businesses as well as ordinary consumers, particularly in this time of Recession