Farewell Elan, welcome to Alkermes

Farewell Elan, welcome to Alkermes The removal of the Elan nameplate from the skyline was symbolic and, for many Athlonians, slightly jarring. The company has been part of the town's physical, social and financial landscape for so long. But things move on and the $960 million purchase of Athlone-based Elan Drug Technologies by US-based Alkermes was completed on Friday, with the official formalities taking place on Monday. To coincide with the first day of Alkermes plc's operations, it was announced that the firm had signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement to manufacture a product in Athlone on behalf of one of the world's top ten pharmaceutical companies. And although there was no formal commitment for extra jobs to meet this contract, the fact that the new owners hit the ground running was a positive sign of their commitment to the plant into the future. They have said all the right things about their belief in the top-quality manufacturing plant and its staff. And the signs are that they are willing to match that talk with investment. We welcome Alkermes to Athlone and hope it becomes as much a flagship company for Athlone as their predecessor was. The HSE's waste of €1m is a scandal The revelation this week that over €1m was wasted on preparatory work for the HSE's proposed Primary Care campus in Athlone is an absolute scandal. This paper has been to the fore in highlighting the farcical nature of this saga over the last ten years. Effectively, after a decades of plans and revised plans, broken deadlines and for the site in Arcadia, the HSE eventually scrapped its concept of building a primary care centre and instead sought tenders from a private company to develop a similar, but different, project. The private company then proceeded to seek planning permission itself - and is pushing on with plans to develop a scaled-down primary care centre which it will then lease back to the HSE. However, before this arrangement was devised, and over the previous ten years or so, the HSE spent over €1m on various designs and preparatory work for its own project. Money down the drain. That sum may have seemed like small change a number of years ago, but nowadays with the Government and the IMF/EU seeking ongoing cutbacks in public expenditure, the €1m which has been wasted on this project could have helped to bridge many a gap in health spending facing hospitals and health services across the country. A Westmeath GAA team in an All-Ireland final! The Westmeath Ladies GAA team will this weekend take on Cavan in the All-Ireland Intermediate Football Final in Croke Park bridging a 24-year gap since they contested an All-Ireland final, albeit on that occasion at the senior level. This year, Westmeath ladies have flown the flag for GAA in the county, winning the National League Division Four and blazing a historic trail to headquarters for the All-Ireland final. It is therefore disappointing to note that the local men's county board still saw fit to fix a number of local fixtures on the same day as the showpiece decider. It's leads to the ridiculous situation that one of the co-managers of the Westmeath ladies team, Alan Mangan, must make a dash hot-footed from Croke Park to play with his team in the Westmeath senior hurling semi finals at 5.30pm the same evening. At a time when all in Westmeath should be rallying behind the ladies footballers, the county board has added an unnecessary distraction to the mix ahead of the big game.