Locals grateful to humble spud in county blighted by unemployment
Carlow may not figure prominently when it comes to winning All-Irelands in football or hurling but the Dolmen County’s capital town — Carlow — traditionally enjoyed a reputation as a prime example of what an industrial town should be.
There has always been a strong industrial skill base in the Barrowside town but the opportunity for these skills to be applied to a healthy manufacturing working environment has been greatly diluted over recent years.
The huge Braun (Ireland) factory on the town’s O’Brien Road stands locked, silent and idle where once the personal care manufacturing plant was one of the biggest employers in the south east region — an absolute hub of round-the-clock manufacturing activity.
The IDA-backed Braun factory was constructed in 1974 and at its peak employed up to 1,400 people, some of whom came from the surrounding counties of Kildare, Laois, Kilkenny and Wicklow.
Directly across the road, the Lapple (Ireland) Ltd. factory, manufacturers of tools and dyes for the motor industry, is no longer in existence, although the factory plant has a tenant.
The Lapple workforce was in the region of 300 and it was constructed at the same time as the Braun plant and also with IDA backing.
The majority of industry endemic to Carlow has also disappeared.
The biggest blow was the closure in March 2005 of Irish Sugar’s beet processing plant on Athy Road.
There was huge opposition to the closure of the Carlow sugar factory, with some 4,000 people taking part a protest march in the days prior to its closure. But the decision stood.
With trials on a genetically modified potato set to last four years at Teagasc in Carlow, locals will feel they have reason to be grateful to the humble spud.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
