Rippen Limited, a factory making pianos in Shannon County Clare gets its biggest order to date.
Rippen Limited, a piano factory of Dutch origin began production on the Shannon Free Airport Industrial Estate, County Clare in 1960. It employs 250 people producing 3,000 pianos annually. It is expected this figure will rise to 8,000 by June 1966.
Managing Director of the firm Nico Rippen, confirms a recent American order for 500 pianos is the largest single order the company has received since opening at Shannon. He therefore believes,
We are the biggest European exporter of pianos to the US.
Despite a growing interest in pop music and guitar playing, there is no sign of a decline in the popularity of pianos in America,
There are 22 million piano players in the United States and this is even a bigger number than the total fishermen.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 2 February 1966. The reporter is Arthur Quinlan.
