SKIBBEREEN, Ireland—RTP Co. says it "welcomed" a decision by the Cork County Council approving a new project in Ireland in its first comments since a local group in the community launched its opposition to the new plant.
Winona, Minn.-based RTP wants to build a 16,000-sq.-ft. compounding plant in Skibbereen, a town of about 3,000 less than 10 miles from Ireland's southern coast. The plant would create as many as 40 new jobs.
The plant is opposed by Save Our Skibbereen, a protest group that's concerned about the environmental impact of the plant.
In a statement, Danny Miles, RTP vice president and managing director, Europe, said: "We welcomed the decision of Cork County Council to grant planning permission for our project in Skibbereen, which gave due consideration to the observations received from local residents.
"We also welcomed the decision of An Bord Pleanala to affirm the Cork County Council's original determination to grant planning permission.
"We are grateful to the Irish Industrial Development Authority and their agent, Connect Ireland, for proposing this site for development and we look forward to expanding our service to both Irish and European medical device manufacturers with our high-end, specialty products once the manufacturing facility is completed in accordance with planning permission."
Brendan McCarthy, former mayor of the Skibbereen Town Council, leads the protest group Save Our Skibbereen. More than 6,000 area residents have signed a petition opposing the RTP plant. Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons, who owns a historic castle in the area, also has publicly opposed the project.
The group has focused on the impact of heavy traffic during and after construction, as well as raising environmental concerns about plastics.
Despite recent protests, the statement suggests that RTP has every intention of going ahead with construction of the new plant.