The Minister for Agriculture, Ms Coughlan has been called on to intervene following the decision to close a 107-year-old butter-churning plant in Co Sligo. Marese McDonagh reports.
Senator Eamon Scanlon, of Fianna Fáil, said the rural community of Achonry was devastated following the announcement by Connacht Gold that it is to transfer the facility to its Co Roscommon plant in Shannonside.
Twelve people are to be made redundant, while six have been told that they will be redeployed.
Staff in the plant yesterday expressed bewilderment at the news, saying they had been producing a very specialised product for the home and foreign market and did not see the logic of transferring it.
"Our product has been approved by Tesco and Marks & Spencer, and we have also been exporting to Germany," said one source. He pointed out that the plant, which had once been the headquarters of North Connacht Farmers, had been a source of employment in the area for generations.
Senator Scanlon, who has already raised the matter with the Minister, said he hoped to meet her again today to discuss the planned closure.
"The ethos of the co-op movement is to look after the small man, so this is a major blow to people whose fathers and grandfathers had an association with this plant," he said.
In a statement, the company said butter production was being transferred from Achonry to the Dairy Ingredients site at Shannonside in Ballaghaderreen following a thorough review of operations in the dairy ingredients division.
This had taken place against the background of the implications of the CAP Mid-Term Review.
The company said the review had identified significant cost savings based on the transfer of operations.
As the only stand alone butter manufacturing site in the country, Achonry was at a significant competitive disadvantage relative to its competitors.
Senator Scanlon said that, if the plant closed next March, there was little hope of finding an alternative industry for a rural area where workers had taken such pride in a very specialised job.