ONE OF Dublin’s landmark five-star hotels has confirmed it is to undertake a restructuring programme which will lead to the loss of 32 jobs.
Staff working at the Conrad Hotel on Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, were called into an emergency meeting yesterday morning where they were informed of the plan.
It is believed that the redundancies are being sought on a voluntary basis.
The operator of the Conrad, which is part-owned by developer Bernard McNamara, warned of difficult trading conditions in accounts filed late last year. At that time Earlsfort Centre Hotel Properties said that it was still forecasting a profit for 2008.
The business slipped into the red in 2007 with pretax losses of €345,972 after it had recorded a pretax profit of €100,933 a year earlier.
“As recently reported, the hospitality business, like many other industry sectors, has been impacted by the current global economic climate,” said a statement released by the hotel yesterday.
“Unfortunately the hotel has not been immune to these challenges and has had to evaluate staffing levels in relation to business needs.
“As a result, we regretfully will have to make a number of roles redundant at this time.
“We will be offering each of the individuals affected our full support while they look for alternative employment,” the hotel statement said. Siptu workers at the Conrad were due to meet to discuss the announcement.
Mr McNamara bought a 45 per cent interest in the 192-room hotel from the Irish Shell pension fund and nominees of the Bank of New York in January 2007.
