The Dundalk Town Council and Louth County Council chairmen will fly to New York on Monday where they will spend the days leading up to during and after liaising with US companies in an effort to attract business here.

Speaking to The Dundalk Democrat about his impending trip to the Big Apple, Cllr Bellew said he would be looking to highlight Dundalk's many strengths and features to the companies he would be meeting.

"I won't see our itinerary until Friday but we'll be meeting with the equivalent of the IDA over there and a few other companies and business people to explain what Dundalk has to offer.

"We'll be telling them what land is available on industrial sites and what type of industry we can cater for.

"We'll also be highlighting the quality of work-force that Dundalk has to offer and also what it offers as a social area.

"There are a lot of great facilities in Dundalk and we'll be highlighting those, along with all the sporting features and, of course, that it's located 50 miles either side of the two main cities."

This is Cllr Bellew's second St Patrick's Day trip away on official business but he insists it is worthwhile.

"There will be a lot of county and town councils lining up over there to promote themselves so if you're not in you have no chance.

"I'm not going to say we'll arrive back with hundreds of jobs but we're going to give it our best to attract any sort of business we can to this area.

"I was out in America five years ago when I was last chairman of the Town Council and I feel it's very important to build relationships and we'll be looking to build on the recent good jobs news we've had from Warner Chilcott and Probiotic Limited and to promote the fact that other big companies are coming to Dundalk.

"Our message will be that Dundalk is open for business and has a work-force that is ready and available," said Cllr Bellew.