Carpet plant closes with loss of 200 jobs

A TOWN once famous for carpets and furniture now has neither after a factory went into voluntary liquidation yesterday.

All of the 200 workers in Navan Carpets, which has been based in the Meath town for 65 years, will be made redundant. Last month, the Crannac co-op, which manufactured furniture, closed with the loss of 35 jobs.

The closure was announced to the workforce yesterday as a court-appointed liquidator moved into the factory. And in Kilbegga, Co Westmeath, Powerscreen yesterday said it was closing and 118 jobs would go. The plant has been in operation since the early 1970s, manufacturing equipment for the quarry, landfill and waste recycling industries. Powerscreen is now owned by US multinational Terex.

Navan deputy lord major Councillor Alison Boyle said the closure of Navan Carpets was a further blow to the town. “A lot of local families would have been employed there for generations. Navan Carpets is part of our history and heritage.”

Navan Carpets was the subject of a management buyout in 1995 and it invested in new technology to produce high-quality custom carpets quickly. Most of the factory’s carpets were sold to hotels, casinos and cruise liners, although it also produced material for the home market. The company has blamed falling demand in the US after the events of September 11 and a drop in demand in the home market for its liquidation. “I know the workers have done everything in their power, from taking unpaid annual leave to three-day weeks. The local management have been on training courses in Britain,” Ms Boyle said.

The fall of the dollar in value against the euro also cut the company’s profit margins for its US exports.

But Fine Gael laid the blame for the closure squarely on the Government. Employment spokesman Phil Hogan said Navan Carpets was the latest casualty of the “whirlwind of uncompetitiveness” in the country. And local TD John Bruton said the high domestic inflation had worsened the position of companies exporting from Ireland.

“Neither Mary Harney nor Charlie McCreevy has any particular idea about what to do about Ireland’s worsening competitiveness position. I hope the liquidator will search the world to find a buyer who will operate Navan Carpets as a going concern.”

However, there is little hope that the factory will reopen. Irish carpet firms are struggling to compete with low-wage factories in the Far East. Last October, Munster Carpets in Cork closed with the loss of 49 jobs. The workers will complete the estimated three to four weeks of orders that remain. SIPTU said it would be meeting with the liquidator on Thursday to negotiate redundancy packages.

At its peak, Navan Carpets employed 600 people. Navan Chamber of Commerce estimates that the factory was worth €6 million to the local economy. Like many local chambers, it is pushing for a share of inward investment to make up for the losses. “We have a business park and instead of expanding, it is contracting. Navan in only 30 miles from Dublin and if it is not to become a commuter town, we need investment,” chief executive Frank Dempsey said.