CARRICK-ON-SHANNON, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 7, 2024--
Freudenberg Medical, a leading global design, development and manufacturing partner for minimally invasive medical devices, has announced the creation of 250 new jobs at the official opening of its newly expanded facility in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, Ireland.
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Part of the Freudenberg Group, Freudenberg Medical is a global contract design and manufacturing partner to the medical device and biopharma industry with operations in key MedTech hubs across the US, Europe, Asia and Costa Rica.
Dr. Mohsen Sohi, CEO of the Freudenberg Group, officially opened the newly expanded facility today. The expansion adds 16,500 sq. ft. to the Carrick-on-Shannon facility, bringing the total site footprint in Co. Leitrim to 157,000 sq. ft. The newly announced jobs will increase existing staffing levels in Carrick-on-Shannon by over a third to 950 people by 2026.
The expansion will help Freudenberg Medical to meet accelerating global demand for its products and solutions. As part of the expansion, the company is enhancing technologies to deliver next generation catheter solutions for its global customer base. Producing some of the most advanced and intricate catheters in modern healthcare, the site has built a global reputation as a trusted partner for medical device companies specializing in electrophysiology, structural heart, and peripheral vascular therapies.
Freudenberg Medical currently employs over 1,000 people in Ireland, shipping over 16 million complex catheters each year from a combined 200,000 sq. ft. manufacturing footprint at its facilities in Co. Leitrim and Co. Galway. In 2023, the company also expanded its facility in Galway, increasing manufacturing area by 50% and announcing the addition of 100 new jobs.
Commenting on today’s announcement, CEO of Freudenberg Medical, Dr. Mark Ostwald, said the expansion was another significant milestone for the company’s global growth and its Irish operations.
"Ireland has established a world-renowned reputation in the life sciences sector and holds strategic importance within Freudenberg Medical's global network. With a 25-year history in the country, this latest investment further enhances our world-class operations here. The proven excellence of our local teams has earned the confidence of our customers, which has in turn driven strong global demand. This success shaped our decision to invest in expanding our operations, allowing us to continue delivering innovative solutions to the medical device industry.”
Vice President and General Manager of Freudenberg Medical’s Co. Leitrim facility, Barry Regan, said:
“Today marks a proud achievement for our Carrick-on-Shannon team as we expand capacity and capability to meet accelerating demand for our products and solutions. We plan to enhance technologies at our site to reinforce and sustain the reputation we have built as a global leader in our field. The official opening and announcement of 250 new jobs is a testament to the dedication of our talented teams.”
Recruitment for the newly announced positions at Freudenberg Medical is underway for roles in engineering, research & development, manufacturing operations and support services.
The company’s Irish operations were originally established as joint venture partnerships with the former VistaMed operations in Co. Leitrim and Cambus Medical in Co. Galway which are now part of Freudenberg Medical’s global operations.
About Freudenberg Medical
Freudenberg Medical is an innovative partner for the design, development and manufacture of medical devices and components that play a critical role in a variety of medical and pharmaceutical applications. With 11 manufacturing operations and more than 2,800 associates worldwide, Freudenberg Medical enables medical innovation through its vertically integrated capabilities: from complex catheters, hypotubes, needles, balloons, and coating solutions for minimally invasive products to precision molded components and biopharmaceutical tubing. www.freudenbergmedical.com
Freudenberg Medical is part of the Freudenberg Group, a global technology group that strengthens its customers and society long-term through forward-looking innovations. Together with its partners, customers, and research institutions, the Freudenberg Group develops leading-edge technologies and excellent products and services for about 40 markets and for thousands of applications: seals, vibration control components, technical textiles, filters, cleaning technologies and products, specialty chemicals, medical products, batteries and fuel cells. Innovation strength, strong customer orientation, diversity, and team spirit are the cornerstones of the Group. The 175-year-old company lives by its core values: a commitment to excellence, reliability and proactive, responsible action. In 2023, the Freudenberg Group employed over 52,000 people in around 60 countries worldwide and generated sales of more than €11.9 billion. www.freudenberg.com
Freudenberg Medical catheter manufacturing operation in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, Ireland (Photo: Business Wire)
CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. military pressed ahead Saturday in a frantic search for a missing pilot after Iran shot down an American warplane, as Iran called on people to turn the pilot in, promising a reward.
The plane, identified by Iran as a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday, with one service member rescued and at least one missing. It was the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, and could mark a new turning point in the campaign.
The conflict, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, has rippled across the region. It has so far killed thousands, upended global markets, cut off key shipping routes, spiked fuel prices and shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes with attacks across the region. Missile and drone strikes continued Saturday with an apparent Iranian drone damaging the headquarters of the U.S. tech giant Oracle in Dubai.
The downing of the military planes came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran” and was “going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast.” The U.S. and Israel had boasted recently that Iran's air defenses were decimated.
Also Saturday, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It is the fourth time the facility has been targeted during the war.
The agency announced the attack on social media.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released public information about the downed planes.
In an email from the Pentagon obtained by The Associated Press, meanwhile, the military said it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East, without providing more details.
A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued. But the Pentagon also notified the House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member on the fighter jet was not known. A U.S. military search-and-rescue operation continued Saturday.
In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss the search-and-rescue efforts but said what happened would not affect negotiations with Iran.
Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down or whether Iran was involved. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it went down was immediately known.
An anchor on a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to the police.
Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true. Friday was the first time the Iranian public was urged to look for a downed pilot.
Iranian state media said in a post on the social platform X its military shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a pilot and a weapons system officer.
An apparent Iranian drone damaged the Dubai headquarters of the American tech giant Oracle on Saturday after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened the firm.
The attack targeted the headquarters, which sits along Dubai’s main Sheikh Zayed Road highway. Footage obtained by The Associated Press from outside the United Arab Emirates showed damage to the building. A large hole could be seen in the building’s southwestern corner, with the “e” in “Oracle” on a neon sign damaged.
The sheikhdom’s Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, said a “minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade of the Oracle building in Dubai Internet City," adding there were no injuries.
Oracle, based in Austin, Texas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Guard has accused some of America’s largest tech companies of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations against the Islamic Republic and said they were legitimate targets.
Earlier Iranian drone strikes hit Amazon Web Services facilities in both the UAE and Bahrain.
World leaders, meanwhile, have struggled to end Iran’s stranglehold on the waterway, which has had far-reaching consequences for the global economy and has proved to be its greatest strategic advantage in the war.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to take up the matter Saturday.
Trump has vacillated on America’s role in the strait, alternately threatening Iran if it does not open the strait and telling other nations to “go get your own oil.” On Friday, he said in a post on social media: “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.”
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began. In a review released Friday, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a U.S.-based group, said it found that civilian casualties were clustered around strikes on security and state-linked sites “rather than indiscriminate bombardment” of urban areas.
More than two dozen people have died in Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, over 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Iraqi women hold a portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, in the Shi'ite district of Kazimiyah in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A woman checks a destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
