Economy of Limerick

s="apple-converted-space"> in the National Technology Parkand also employes close to 1,000 people. It is Vistakon's only production facility outside the United States and one of the largest contact-lens manufacturing plants in the world.

The recent economic recession in Ireland has had a profound effect on Limerick. The announcement in 2009 that Dell was to move its manufacturing facility from Limerick to Poland has devastated the local economy. 1900 jobs were lost at Dell and it is believed that for every job that was lost at Dell at least another 4 to 5 were at risk. The closure of the Dell manufacturing facility amounted to 2% of Ireland's national GDP. The downturn in the construction industry has also cost many jobs as has the stalled Limerick regeneration programme which promised a massive investment in Limerick's deprived city areas. As of 2012 unemployment has become a major problem across the city with the unemployment rate in the city at 28.6% which is almost twice the national average