US multinational Dexcom will start groundworks at its €300m manufacturing plant at a site in Athenry later this month.

Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Councillor Liam Carroll and Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Enployment, Dara Calleary have been invited to the sod-turning ceremony on January 19.

The medical device company got planning permission before Christmas for its manufacturing plant on a 30-hectare site owned by the IDA.

It has indicated it will invest €300m over five years, with the potential to create up to 1,000 graduate and high-tech jobs.

It’s understood some 500 jobs could be provided during construction stage.

Headquartered in San Diego, Dexcom is a global leader in continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes.

Cllr Carroll said the scale of the development and its potential to transform Athenry and County Galway was “mindboggling”.

(Image: a photomontage of how the new facility would look from the M6 eastbound)