Heineken under fire over layoffs

“A SAD day for Cork” was how Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin described the decision by Heineken Ireland to close its 200-year-old Beamish & Crawford brewery in Cork.

Up to 40 employees from Beamish & Crawford will transfer to Heineken Ireland and 120 people will lose their jobs.

“The announcement of 120 redundancies at Beamish & Crawford and the closure of its brewery in March 2009 is a sad occasion for the workers concerned, their families and for Cork.

“Our immediate priority must be to ensure that the workers receive every possible support during this difficult time. I welcome the fact that the company has been in negotiations with worker representatives on a redundancy package, it is important that these discussions will continue during the wind up process,” said Mr Martin.

He called on the unions and the company to ensure a smooth transition for the 40 workers whose jobs are being transferred to Heineken’s Lady’s Well brewery.

“The training and job creation agencies of the State are also offering support to those workers who are seeking new employment,” the minister added.

Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen described the company’s decision to close the iconic brewery as “a tragedy for the 120 workers who are losing their jobs”.

“With Christmas only weeks away this could not have come at a worse time of year. The workers are now facing the prospect of looking for work in the face of a very depressed jobs market,” said Mr Allen.

He described it as ironic that on the day Tánaiste Mary Coughlan was in Cork to welcome plans for new jobs in the city and at Little Island, “she gave the Beamish & Crawford brewery a very wide berth”.

Mr Allen has called on Heineken to consider its decision to lay off so many staff in one go.

“The greatest tragedy of this closure is the severe hardship that it will bring to so many families,” he said.

Fine Gael senator Jerry Buttimer said: “There is never a good time to find yourself on the end of the dole queue, which in Ireland these days is getting longer by the second, but with exactly three weeks to the day to Christmas, families facing this news will be devastated beyond belief.”

His party colleague Deirdre Clune said she was extremely disappointed that more workers could not have been accommodated in the new Heineken set-up.

“Heineken must ensure that the staff can avail of the best possible redundancy package and I am calling on all relevant state agencies to help them with retraining and finding alternative work,” she said.

Meanwhile, Labour’s Ciarán Lynch said: “It is vital that investment in the Beamish brands, particularly Beamish Stout, continues and that the brand is developed to its full potential.

“The worst possible outcome out of this would be the loss, not just of jobs, but of an internationally renowned brand which is of significant value to the economy, locally and nationally. Heineken’s Murphy brand and Beamish have two distinct identities and it must remain thus,” he said.

“The various government agencies must now pull out all the stops to ensure that those who are losing their livelihoods will be afforded every opportunity to be retrained, or upskilled in what is a very challenging employment market,” he said.