Poultry plant closure set to devastate local economy

WEST Limerick’s thriving €20 million a year poultry industry faces a complete wipe-out with the loss of more than 300 jobs at a processing plant.

The impending closure of Castlemahon Food Products brings to an end a local industry which up to early last year had employed more than 550 workers and supported an additional 150 farmer suppliers.

All the jobs were lost within 18 months, with Castlemahon previously shedding 150 jobs in February 2005.

Three months earlier a neighbouring poultry production company Kantoher closed with the loss of 140 jobs.

The Castlemahon plant is located about five miles from Newcastle West.

Up to 100 farmers who supply young chickens to the company also face huge financial losses.

Bewildered workers left Castlemahon’s poultry plant last night, realising their worst fears after the High Court was asked to wind up the company, earlier yesterday.

The owners of the company, the O’Kane Group from Ballymena, Co Antrim, said it had failed unsuccessfully to sell off the company as a going concern and subsequently had written off €12 million in loans given to the company.

The company spokesman said: “The directors of Castlemahon regret today’s actions, but this was unavoidable following sustained substantial losses.”

The liquidator, Kieran Wallace of KPMG told chicken suppliers to Castlemahon yesterday he planned to keep it as a going concern for the next seven to 10 days and review the situation at that point.

Castlemahon, for the past 40 years, has been the hub of the West Limerick economy.

It was built up from a small local poultry coop by the late Barry McEnery and his successor, Tim Geary.

In the 1950s, Castlemahon bought young turkeys from farmers in Kerry and brought them to West Limerick where they were fattened and slaughtered for the Christmas market.

Under Mr McEnery, Castlemahon embarked into the mass poultry market and became a brand leader.

It was producing more than 12 million oven-ready chickens and turkeys a year.

A local farm leader, Mike Doody whose farm supplied young chicks to Castlemahon since 1960, said: “The closure would be like the loss of 10,000 jobs in Dublin. There are more than 350 jobs directly affected and there are more than 80 family farms who depend on the income they get from supplying Castlemahon with chicks and eggs.”

Mr Doody’s farm, now run by his son, supplies 250,000 young chicks to Castlemahon yearly.

He said: “We rear five flocks a year in cycles of 10-and-a-half weeks and we sent more than 45,000 from each flock. My son has just got married and built a new house. His income is hugely dependent from what he derives from poultry.”

Mr Doody, a former chairman of the Castlemahon poultry growers’ group recalled that the organisation got into difficulties in 1984 when a liquidator was appointed. It was at that stage the O’Kane group took over Castlemahon.

In a statement last night, the O’Kane Group said it had to go to the High Court to ask for the appointment of a provisional liquidator due to mounting losses.

The company spokesman said: “Following a long period of unprofitable trading, recent attempts to restructure or sell the business as a going concern were unsuccessful and the withdrawal of banking facilities to support the operations of the business resulted in the application to appoint a liquidator.”