MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has confirmed he is trying to prevent 700 jobs from being lost at a major food-processing plant in Co Monaghan.
Fears have remained high in Carrickmacross that Rye Valley Foods Limited is considering plans to move elsewhere, because of a demand for a contribution from the company of €2 million towards a new €12.8 million town water treatment plant being provided in the town by Monaghan County Council.
The firm employs 700 people at the Carrickmacross plant, which is the single biggest employer in Co Monaghan, and it contributes more than €400,000 annually in rates to Carrickmacross Town Council.
The industry is also reckoned to be worth more than €100 million to the local economy.
Following a visit to Carrickmacross on Friday last, Mr Gormley said discussions were under way which should resolve the impasse involving the company and the local authority. “We don’t want to see any jobs lost,” he told community representatives. “We don’t intend this to happen.”
He said Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan and Monaghan county manager Declan Nelson were involved in ongoing talks with senior Department of Environment officials.
A spokesman for Co Monaghan Trades Council said: “We are delighted the Minister has given us a ray of hope that this major industry will be saved for the area. If it moves, it would be a devastating blow for the local economy and for many families.”
He said Mr Gormley had assured representatives from the company that “a resolution” to the impasse was being discussed at the highest level and that it was not his intention to see “any jobs lost to the area”.
It is understood Rye Valley Foods exports more than 90 per cent of its production to Britain.