AN innovative social enterprise is providing employment support services for people with autism in Northern Ireland.
Specialisterne, which launched recently at Skainos in Belfast, aims to create job opportunities for its clients in the IT sector.
Attending the launch, Employment Minister Stephen Farry, said: “I am committed to helping employers to create working environments that are inclusive and dynamic, reflecting the increasingly diverse society that exists in Northern Ireland today.”
“This includes ensuring that people with disabilities and health conditions, such as those with autism, are provided with the opportunities to succeed in their chosen career.”
“I would like to congratulate Specialisterne on their success since setting up in Dublin and more recently here in Belfast.”
The minister encouraged employers attending the event to engage with the Specialisterne project, which would enable people with autism or asperger’s syndrome to excel in their career role and provide the local ICT industry with a cohort of dedicated, loyal and top performing staff.
Dame Stephanie Shirley was also a keynote speaker at the event.
The founder of software company Xansa, and proponent of women entering the IT industry, shared her story of over-coming barriers within the IT sector be-fore going on to serve as president of the British Computer Society.
She used this event and her own career journey to draw upon parallels with Special’s-term’s aims to create job opportunities for people with autism in the IT sector.
Meanwhile, an expansion drive by Moy Park, is helping to create 15 new jobs at Toome-based Copper Industries.
The new positions are to help the firm meet demand from poultry farmers for its range of hot water cylinders and buffer tanks.
Copper Industries, the only indigenous company to manufacture hot water storage cylinders and butte tanks for both the domestic and commercial markets, has seen a dramatic increase in orders over the last s’ months.
The new business is believed to be knock-on effect of Moy Park’s bight successful Grower Expansion Programme, which aims to increase breeder and broiler growing capacity ac Ni by up to 400 poultry houses.
Welcoming the Moy Park initiative, Cathal Shivers, director of Copper Industries, said: “This is a very positive development for our company and demonstrates how expansion within the agri-food sector is fuelling wide growth in other indigenous companies and across NI’s economy as a whole.”
“Over the last few years, were invested significantly in our facilities and R&D capabilities to ensure our produce range remains at the leading edge.”
“Thanks to this, we’re ideally positioned to meet the surge in demand from the farming community and as the only locally owned company with the capabilities to provide such a bespoke service, we look forward to growing this area of our business in the months ahead.”