Closure of bacon factory adds to increasing unemployment in Kerry

A BACON factory that once employed upwards of 350 people in Tralee, Co Kerry, is to close at the end of the year with the loss of its remaining 25 jobs.

The Denny plant, owned by the Kerry Group, has been running for the past year as a curing operation, but group corporate affairs director Frank Hayes said yesterday a curing-only facility was no longer viable.

“This is a sad situation and it’s regrettable that there are no other options open to us,” he added.

Mr Hayes said a good severance package was available to the workers with whom the company was talking on a one-to-one basis.

A year ago, the company announced Dennys was to shed 50 jobs and close its bacon operation due to a decline in the traditional bacon sector.

Mr Hayes said the plan was to keep the pig meat curing operation open, but it had become apparent in the last few months a curing only facility could not continue.

In tight economic times, the company has taken the view it can no longer sustain a loss-making operation in Dennys.

Slaughtering ceased at the Tralee plant in the 1990s and there are no plans for the prime town centre site.

Kerry Group has 850 people employed in a value-added pork meat production facility at Shillelagh, Co Wicklow.

The closure of Dennys will further exacerbate the unemployment in Kerry which has jumped from just over 6,000 to almost 10,300 in the past year, according to CSO figures.

The biggest rise has been in Tralee where those on the live register have increased by almost 1,500 since October 2007.

In Killarney, there has been an increase of 858 in the past 12 months, while the biggest monthly increase was also in Killarney, from 1,400 to almost 1,800.