Sugar factory pressure mounts

PRESSURE is mounting on the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the sugar factory in Mallow is not dismantled.

Greencore will close the plant on May 12, bringing to an end the 80 year-old Irish sugar processing industry. Some 324 jobs will be lost and 3,700 farmers will be left without an outlet for their beet. Service providers will also be affected.

Fears are now growing, however, that the company may in the near future dismantle the plant, located on a 285-acre site close to the rapidly expanding town.