Farmers to protest factory closure

TILLAGE farmers, angry at the planned closure of Carlow sugar factory and Banagher Maltings in Co Offaly, are to take to the streets in Dublin on Thursday.

Beet and malting barley growers will protest at the annual general meeting of Greencore, which will be held at the Berkeley Court Hotel, and will then march to Leinster House to lobby politicians.

Irish Sugar, part of Greencore, plans to close Carlow sugar factory in March and consolidate processing in Mallow as part of a major rationalisation programme, which will result in the loss of 189 full time and 137 seasonal jobs.

Minch Malt, another Greencore company, is to close Banagher Maltings in Co Offaly next September, affecting 350 malting barley growers in North Tipperary, Galway and Westmeath and with the loss of 10 full-time jobs and a further nine in agri-trading branches at Banagher, Borrisokane and Tullamore.

The company said the decision to close the maltings plant is unavoidable in light of significant losses incurred over the past number of years and is absolutely necessary in the interests of the long term viability of the business as a whole.

IFA president John Dillon, who announced the protest actions yesterday, claimed Greencore had totally mislead growers as it has no specific arrangements in place to move beet to Mallow this year.

“IFA’s demand to defer the closure decision is further justified, as it has now emerged that the proposed site for a rail depot in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, is not materialising” he said.

Mr Dillon said the closure of Baanagher Maltings, with the loss of 45,000 tonnes of malting barley contracts, will have a huge negative knock on effect on an already overburdened feed grains market.

Twenty thousand acres of the best of traditional malting barley land will have no market for its produce, he said.

In a statement, Irish Sugar said it will work to establish the best railhead and road transport options to enable the transport of former Carlow beet supply to Mallow, taking account of issues raised in regard to the development of a beet supply depot in Bagenalstown.