The McDonald's fast food chain has said it plans to open four new restaurants in the Republic this year with the creation of 280 full and part-time jobs.
The chain is to invest €9.5m in opening the new locations as well as continuing its refurbishment programme of existing restaurants and expanding its McCafé locations.
The first new restaurant opened last week at the Mahon Point Centre, Cork. Two other restaurants are scheduled to open in Dublin and one in Wicklow.
McDonalds already has 71 outlets and employs 3,500 people in the Republic. The fast food chain serves around 150,000 people every day in Ireland.
