Mr Tom Parlon, Minister for State at the Department of Finance, yesterday called for a deferral of the closure of Carlow Sugar factory, saying he disagreed with the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Ms Coughlan, when she said its closure, with the loss of 200 jobs, would not weaken her hand in EU negotiations.
Mr Parlon told a protest rally of over 4,000 people in Carlow that the least Greencore could do would be to defer the closure of the plant until next month.
"I told the Minister for Agriculture today that I disagreed with her statement that the closure of the Carlow sugar plant would not undermine the Government's case in the EU negotiations on the EU sugar regime," he said.
"I have spoken to the Tánaiste about the closure and expressed my view that it was a wrong decision, and I have asked the Attorney General to examine the situation regarding the golden share that Government holds in the company," he said.
"There is full political support for you people here, and the least that should be done is that Greencore should defer the closure because it is a wrong decision which, in my view, would not be the first botched decision taken by the company," he said.
The former IFA president said the company clearly had not rationalised the closure, which would mean transporting the majority of beet grown in the country away from Carlow to Mallow in Cork.
Work on upgrading the Mallow plant had not begun and there was no planning permission for the various changes which would have to take place to facilitate the additional rail and processing activities, he said.
"I have asked Mary Coughlan to call in Greencore to explain their decision to Government because what has happened is not good enough," he told the IFA-organised meeting, which was supported by the workers and business interests in Carlow.
Following a march through the town led by a horse and cart carrying beet, the IFA president, Mr John Dillon, called on the chief executive of Greencore's sugar division, Dr Seán Brady, to resign. He said his decision to close down the Carlow plant was a 'stab in the back' for the farmers, workers and people of Carlow who had built up the plant to a point where it made €10 million in profit last year.
He said he wanted the public to know that Greencore had not consulted the IFA about the closure .
He called on politicians to put pressure on Greencore to have meaningful negotiations with farmers and workers and said the company must stop asset- stripping and ensure the future of the industry in Ireland.
Mr Michael Jennings, the regional secretary of SIPTU, which represents most of the workers at the plant, claimed the company had broken the law by failing to consult with the workers and suppliers before announcing the closure. The people who had built the factory were patriots, but those seeking to close it were not interested in people, only profit, and this was not the kind of Ireland most people wanted to live in, he said.
Deputy M.J. Nolan (FF) pledged his support to keep the factory open and said that if they had their way, the "sugar daddies" would try to close Mallow down in two years.
Other speakers included Deputy Dennis Naughten, Fine Gael's agriculture spokesman, Labour TD Mr Jack Wall, and Ms Mary O'Connor, president of Carlow Chamber of Commerce.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael last night announced it would be raising the closure in the Seanad today.