William Egenton of Dromone...praise for workforce.

A County Meath company has pulled off a major trade coup by beating off international competition to land a €9.7 million contract with France's largest exporter of agricultural products, protecting 100-plus jobs at its Oldcastle headquarters in the process.

Dromone Engineering, manufacturers of hitching equipment for agriculture and construction, secured the contract with France's largest exporter of agricultural products, Massey Ferguson (Agco Group), based in Beauvais, north of Paris.

The company also has more good news in the pipeline as it is expected to sign an agreement on a contract of equal size in North America next month.

The French contract was announced yesterday (Tuesday) as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton arrived back in Ireland from a three-day trade mission to France in which Irish companies announced a number of significant contracts and alliances with a total value of €17.6 million.

To read the full story see this week's Meath Chronicle.