A WEST Donegal company manufacturing components for some of the world’s most recognised car brands is looking to grow its workforce by fifty per cent.
Irish Pressings Ltd. – based in the Údarás na Gaeltachta Industrial Estate in Gweedore – specialise in the design and manufacture of tooling and metal pressed components for a range of engineering sectors, most notably automotive.
Ben McGonagle is Business Planning Manager at the company which has grown from a small start-up with three employees in 2005 to a very successful SME employing 75 people.
“We’re very proud of our Donegal roots and we’re hoping to attract local people who are looking to find work at home or may indeed be seeking a return to Donegal.
“It’s been amazing the amount of people upping sticks and coming back to Donegal, especially over these past few months. Home is where the heart is and more and more people want to be closer to their families,” he said.

Last year began in award-winning style for Irish Pressings Ltd. when they picked up the Engineering Team of the Year Award at the Irish Manufacturing Awards held in Dublin and they’re looking to build on that success this year.
Like most other manufacturing companies they were forced to close their doors for a number of months last year after all the major car plants across Europe shut down during lockdown.

“The whole estate here seems to be buzzing at the minute with RAPs take-over announcement earlier in the week and the new faces across the way in the gteic hub. There’s a positive mood about the place,” he said.
“We have seventy-five working here but we’re planning to get to 120 or so over the next two to three years and, hopefully, that’s a conservative estimate.
“We came through a lean month or two on the automotive side of the business last year but the tooling end carried us through and this year things are looking good,” he said.

Customers include companies such as Honda, BMW, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mercedes, Opel and Fiat. The company also offer design and development assistance and simulation services as well as R&D support to its customers.
Two weeks into Brexit and Irish Pressing Ltd have found few problems with customs clearance, especially when it comes to goods bound for the UK market.
“We’ve been preparing for this (Brexit) for the last year or so but we have found that the UK companies themselves have been a wee bit short in this regard. They thought that Brexit was for everybody else and not them.

“We’ve already been in and out a few times this year with very little delay. The big thing for us is that we have our own lorry and we’re in charge of our own logistics. When we reach out to new customers the first thing we’re always asked is that you’re based in North West Ireland which is very far away.
“However, if you’re based in the UK and you close your door at 5pm in an evening we’ll be at your door by 7am the following morning with a delivery. With France and Germany, our two main markets in Europe, we’ll be there within 48 hours,” he said.

“We’re also findings that a lot of these car companies in the UK are now Brexit-proofing themselves by establishing bases in mainland Europe.
“I still get a buzz in the knowledge that any Honda Civic you see driving anywhere in Europe contains parts that have come out of Gweedore,” he added.
Irish Pressings is seeking immediate applications for mechanical press operators and engineering (toolmaking) apprentices.

“We would have had a good history of apprenticeship schemes here before the lure of America and Australia came calling. Those options aren’t really there at the moment. We’ve a good working relationship with the local Dungloe school (Rosses Community School) who have a good engineering department,” he said.
For more info see irishpressings.com/careers. Applications should be sent to hr@irishpressings.com with closing deadline of 12pm on 20/01/2021.