Former employees meet up to reminisce old times 33 years after Cork's Ford plant shut

In 1969, a group in the factory went on a religious retreat run by the Dominicans. It became an annual fixture in the company’s calendar, even after the Marina plant closed 15 years later — and, remarkably, it is still going strong nearly half a century on.
Each year, just before Christmas, the group spends two days at Ennismore Retreat Centre just across the River Lee from their old factory, in Montenotte, in Cork city. Here, they take time out from daily life to to reflect and reminisce.
The tradition started after Father Harty from the Dominicans visited the Ford factory in the 1960s and invited the workers to Ennismore. A large group decided to attend the two-day retreat.
Father Ben Harty — no relation to his predecessor — who has been at Ennismore for the last nine years, explained: “After Ford closed its factory, when it came up to the time to visit Ennismore that December, people kept coming to have a cup of tea and for a chat.
“It was a way of keeping in contact with people they used to work with. It’s a lovely old thing in a way really.”
In the early days, up to 60 people would attend the retreats.
Although the group is smaller now, there are still a considerable amount of former employees who attend, according to Arthur O’Callaghan, a regular visitor on the Ennismore trips.
He says between 25 and 30 former employees attend and they are an extremely loyal bunch.
They all worked in a variety of different departments at Ford except for one man — a friend of a friend who didn’t have a connection to the company. “But he’s very welcome!” adds Arthur. Religion aside, people attend the retreats because it gives them the opportunity to sit down with each other and catch up on the year that has just passed.
The visit also gives the group a chance to reminisce about their times working together.
“We’re still there, hoping to make it to the fiftieth year, ” Arthur says.
The trip has become such an ingrained tradition, Arthur says that often his friends will say to him “It wouldn’t be Christmas without my trip to Ennismore”.
He added: “People come from far and wide. I’d find myself looking forward to going up, there’s great value in the spiritual sense. And there’s the man above. We’ve never had a bad night.”
The Dominicans take great care of them during their visits and are very hospitable, Arthur says, adding they also provide a good spread of lovely homemade pies to go along with their cups of tea.
The retreat is a way to come together and Father Harty will hold a talk and the group will celebrate the Eucharist.
He starts the retreat by giving a sermon, usually on a topic he feels is relevant about life or society.
After his sermon, the Eucharist is celebrated, and then the employees have the rest of the evening to catch-up, often staying up late to chat.
If attendees aren’t happy with the subject of his sermon, they don’t hide their feelings about it, Father Harty jokes.
“It would be gently intimated to you,” he chuckles. “Very gently really.”