Current Edition: 15 January 2005
News
Sugar blow for Carlow
By Eric Donald
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Greencore's decision to close the sugar factory in Carlow after 79 years in operation is a devastating blow for the workforce and the town. The company are consolidating their sugar processing at the Mallow factory for the next campaign in the autumn of this year.
The Carlow factory is to close in mid March, with the loss of 189 full time and 137 part time jobs. Some of these jobs will be in Mallow and are already agreed under a redundancy agreement. A new rail depot is planned for the Carlow area and will take two thirds of the beet normally delivered to Carlow. The rest will be delivered by road. |
Working flat out at the Carlow Sugar factory as Noel Brady supervises the intake of beet in October 2003. This week the Greencore board voted to close the plant.
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Up until now the Carlow factory has produced 100,000 tonnes of sugar, half of the country's national quota. After March just 63 people will be employed there.
The tough decision was taken by the board of Greencore sugar who met in Carlow yesterday.
It's a difficult pill for workers and the growers to take given that sugar is one of the most profitable divisions in Greencore generating an estimated €23 million.
But faced with the prospect of a decline in the price of sugar and a cut in Ireland's sugar quota, the company decided to take action in advance of an EU agreement being reached. The company has taken a view on those EU reform negotiations, and decided that it is in the company's best interests to close one factory.
Overall the sugar workforce will drop from 614 down to 288. Processing Ireland's sugar beet crop in one factory in Mallow will provide savings and efficiencies of the order of €7 million for the company in the 2007 campaign. But to achieve those savings redundancies and a net €25 million investment in the Mallow factory must first take place, and it will be a race to get the Mallow factory ready in time for the campaign which begins next October. The company will extend the campaign to 120 days into January.
Reacting to the Carlow closure IFA's Jim O'Regan said that it was a body blow by Greencore and damaged Ireland's case in the EU sugar negotiations. He is meeting with Irish Sugar representatives today and a mass meeting of growers is planned for next Monday night in the Dolmen hotel, Carlow.
