Area hit by second employment blow as firm closes

THERE was another jobs blow for Co Limerick yesterday after one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the Mid-West closed suddenly.

The 46 men and women employed by Microtherm Ltd, in Bruff, were called to a meeting and told their jobs were gone with immediate effect.

Cheaper foreign competition was yesterday blamed for the closure, as management admitted the company had been fighting an uphill battle over the last few years.

The latest jobs blow follows in the appointment of a provisional liquidator at poultry processor Castlemahon Foods, on October 2, which has put 310 jobs there in the balance.

Microtherm Ltd has been manufacturing thermostats in Bruff for more than 30 years and was the biggest employer in the area.

Managing director Brendan Corrigan, who informed the workers of the closure, said a liquidator will be appointed in the coming weeks.

Mr Corrigan added: “The company is insolvent and it is a creditors winding up. There is no money left. That is the financial situation and we have to let our workers go.

“We have had to take this course of action. Our workers in Bruff have unique skills which have been developed over the years. They are very dedicated. It is a sad day and it was very difficult to tell them.”

Microtherm Ltd is owned by German shareholders and exported most of its thermostats, from Bruff, to a sister company in Germany.

A statement from the company said the decision to close was taken after careful consideration of the company’s finances, in the light of rising costs.

Workers have been paid up to end of last month, but will have to join the queue of creditors to get pay due to them this month.

Cllr Niall Collins, FF, who met with workers as they left the factory for the last time, said: “This is the second devastating blow involving job losses, coming in the wake of the Castlemahon announcement, where more than 300 jobs are in jeopardy.

“Microtherm was the largest employer in the Bruff area and there are some couples there with mortgages.

“County Limerick needs special priority attention, and I am also calling on the Minister for Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, to order state agencies to look at the underlying reasons for these closures; that is, cheaper competition from abroad.”