Kanturk: The community behind North Cork Creameries
North Cork Creameries' processing plant in Kanturk, Co Cork.
Uncertainty surrounding proposed redundancies of the North Cork Creamery plant in Kanturk have the town and its people holding their breath.
North Cork Creameries, established in 1928, just shy of its 100th year, is a farmer-owned co-operative which processes more than 315 million equivalent whole milk litres a year into a range of dairy products such as milk, butter and cream.
Recently, it was reported that almost 100 personnel working at the Kanturk processing plant could be made redundant.
Local businessman and spokesperson for Kanturk’s Chamber of Commerce Kieran Fitzgerald said the news came “out of the blue” for locals in the town.
“It is raw, and in a small town, it's personal because everyone knows somebody who works there,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
Mr Fitzgerald said from the outside looking in, the plant seemed to be doing well. Over the last five years, the road-facing buildings and structures were renovated, giving a “facelift to the plant”.
“They are one of the pillar industries in the area,” he said, adding the plant saw the town through the financial crash as a key employer in the area.
Trade union SIPTU is now seeking an urgent meeting with senior management after meeting with representatives on Monday. SIPTU Organiser, Sharon Ryan, said: “Our immediate concerns are with our members and their families who are only beginning to come to terms with the possible loss of their livelihoods."
“We intend to engage with the company to explore alternatives to the proposed job losses and attempt to protect as many of our members’ roles as possible," she said.
Mr Fitzgerald said the employees facing the redundancies were on “the front line” of the issue and some of them have been working at the plant for over 40 years.
He hopes the news does not result in the full closure of the plant. “North Cork milk and butter are award-winning products — the reputation is strong, you'd hope maybe with a financial injection from somewhere it might be enough to tide them over,” he said.
“You hope there can be some way to navigate through it… you hope that they haven’t gone over the brink yet, that they might be able to pull it back,” Mr Fitzgerald concluded.
Owner of Twohig SuperValu in Kanturk town, Michael Twohig Jr, said the news about the plant was “disappointing for the entire community”.
“As long as I can remember, we’ve been stocking North Cork milk,” Mr Twohig said.
"It’s a huge employer in the town, probably the largest… We [the community] do rely on some of these key businesses in town, so to lose upward of 100 plus jobs is truly devastating because of the knock-on effect that has."
With the dust settling on the news but uncertainty still a major issue, Mr Twohig said it has hit the community of Kanturk hard: “We’re devastated in the town here… Even walking on the shop floor, talking to staff or customers, there is a general sense of shock, sadness and disappointment that this has happened.”
The knock-on effects won't just disrupt his shop’s supplies, Mr Twohig said. The small businesses in the town that employees of the plant frequent, such as cafes, shops and petrol stations, are all going to feel the effects if the 98 redundancies go ahead.
A consistent theme surrounding the news is the uncertainty of the future of the plant, its production and its employees.
Speaking to the , Cork North-West TD Michael Moynihan said: “The uncertainty over the last week has been extremely unsettling.”
Mr Moynihan said the processing plant was a major piece of the agricultural infrastructure within the region. He said the workers in the plant, farmers who supply it, and the greater region all work in a “symbiotic relationship and are interdependent on each other”.
Mr Moynihan stressed there was “serious engagement” behind the scenes and it was “imperative that everybody does everything to ensure that there is a future for North Cork Co-Op within the Dullhallow region”.
“My opinion is there is a workable solution to this and everybody needs to work together to find that solution,” Mr Moynihan said.
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