Town to fight brewery loss

THE town of Dundalk has pledged to try and fight the proposed closure of the Diageo plant with the loss of at least 85 jobs.

The brewery produces Harp, Smithwicks, Carlsberg and Satzenbrau, and is the second-largest brewery in the Diageo group in Ireland.

The shock announcement that it was closing as part of a rationalisation plan by the group, which will also see it locate a state-of-the-art €650m brewing operation near Dublin, left workers speechless. Staff gathered yesterday morning for a meeting where the company outlined its planned brewing operation near Dublin and the subsequent closure of the Dundalk site.

Many shock their heads and looked at the ground as they left the emotionally charged briefing.

Most were too stunned to talk to the waiting reporters. “Not today, it is a bad day,” said one man. However, one father and son who both work there said they were “very disappointed”.

The closure of the site by 2012 will see 85 families directly affected and a knock-on effect on suppliers and the immediate economy of the region.

The executive director of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce Bill Tosh said the repercussions on other related jobs would be three times that. “There are suppliers, distributors, lorry drivers and others. The wage bill would be at least €3m and that can also be multiplied three times to get the potential loss to the economy,” he said.

The IDA has a landbank of 120 acres on the southwest of Dundalk and adjacent to the motorway, while 90 acres of a privately owned landbank is available just north of the town. Both of these sites could be options for the proposed new brewery, said Mr Tosh.

The chairman of Dundalk Town Council said a meeting would be sought with Diageo in an effort to save the jobs and have the company examine other options.