Locals have reacted cautiously to news that biotech giant Amgen has announced a two-year delay in the development of its €800m manufacturing plant in Co Cork.
Anthony Barry, Chairman of the Carrigtwohill Community Council, said people are concerned but they will have to accept Amgen's word that the plant and jobs will come on stream as promised.
He said he thought the timeline for the project overly ambitious when it was first announced and is not surprised that the new date is 2012.
The company was due to open by 2010, employing some 1,100 people, many of them science graduates.
However, yesterday it announced that following a global review of its operations, it had been decided to reschedule the Cork opening.
A spokesman for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, said the minister is confident that the project will go ahead and that the company remains fully committed to it.
The Cork Chamber of Commerce says it is disappointed that a delay has been announced by Amgen.
