APH
Source: Contact Magazine 1979
Byrne Mech Ltd is now two years in operation. Initially employing only four people the company has expanded enormously and at present employs thirty of a staff producing such diverse components as u-bolts, cleats, brackets for the concrete industry, press tools, gigs and another fixtures.
A measure of the outstanding success of the business has had is that the entrepreneur behind the business, Pat Byrne, was recently invited by the IDA to address an Electronics Engineering Conference in Jury’s Hotel on the 23rd of November. Among other speakers were: Dr. K. Whittaker (Senator and former Governor of the Central. Bank), Raphael Burke, Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce and P. A. White, Executive Managing Director of the I.D.A.
The theme of his lecture was to relate what his business was, how he started and to indicate what could be achieved by someone who is thinking of setting up his own business.
Pat Byrne was educated at St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny and later was apprenticed in the Churchill Machine Tooling Company, Manchester. He graduated; in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester. Later on he joined, Western Tooling in Galway and became general manager before he left to start his own business.
At the moment a new factory is being built in the new industrial estate beside the railway station. The company should be moving in in mid January. With the expansion in space the business will take on ten more people (some of these jobs have already been advertised). Soon after this a stage two building is to be built to cater for the extra flow of business.
Pat Byrne has bought three acres in the new estate: the end structure should be completed in four years. The company will then employ one hundred and thirty people with a turnover of some £4 millions. The company also operates a sales office in Dublin. Asked why he choose Athenry for his business Pat informed us that he could find no place in either Gort or Tuam and there was competition in Galway. At the same time the goods store became available; in Athenry, hence he found himself setting up a business in Athenry.
When asked if he saw possibilities for more industry for Athenry he was very confident, now that there was a fourteen acre industrial restate in the town. The main obstacles to further industrial expansion he believed were the fact that the telephone system had not gone automatic and the very bad sewerage system. Byme Mech has overcome its telephone problem by using a car radio system. Given a special frequency: by the Government the company can keep in contact with all of its vehicles within a radius of seventy five miles from both Dublin and Athenry.
With expansion the keynote to Byrne Mech, a management system has been set up with Pat as Managing Director, Rory McCarthy as Production Manager, Noel Gormley in charge of Sales and Production Control, Mick O’Mahony as accountant, Dominic Melville, General Foreman and everyone kept in touch with each other through company secretary, Helen Divilly.
With ninety per cent of the workforce from the Athenry area and many more vacancies becoming available all augurs well for school leavers in the Athenry catchment area.
