National archives release: Three-man delegation to Ford annoyed Bruton

The then minister for industry, trade, commerce, and tourism John Bruton was annoyed that two other ministers were to accompany him to the US in April 1984 to meet representatives of car manufacturer Ford in a bid to salvage some jobs for its plant in Cork.

In one of the blackest days for unemployment that year, the chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland, Paddy Hayes, announced the closure of its car assembly plant in Cork, with the loss of 800 jobs, on January 17, 1984. It was the first Ford plant in Europe established by the company’s founder, Henry Ford, whose father was from West Cork.

State papers released under the 30-year rule show that the government led by then-taoiseach Garret FitzGerald made strenuous efforts to persuade Ford to continue some manufacturing operation at its plant in Ireland.

A key meeting was arranged with senior Ford management at its headquarters in Detroit to press for an alternative project for Cork.

Documents show that Mr Bruton wrote to Mr FitzGerald on April 19, 1984, to express his concern that three ministers were going.

Mr Bruton said he had hoped the visit would have been confined to himself and the minister for foreign affairs, Peter Barry, before it was decided that the minister for labour, Ruairí Quinn, would also accompany them.

“Ideally I would have preferred if only one minister went on the delegation,” said Mr Bruton. “This would be more efficient, more serious, and easier to manage from the point of view of the presentation of the case and the handling of the media.”

The State papers also reveal that Mr FitzGerald wrote to Mr Hayes on January 19, 1984 to express his “profound regret and surprise” at the news of the factory’s closure.

Mr Hayes replied: “My personal regret and sadness is more intense than any other Irishman’s could be.”

The Irish Transport & General Workers’ Union’s vice-president, Edmund Browne, accused Ford of “cruel insensitivity” towards its staff while at the same time “ploughing significant financial resources” into the GAA’s centenary celebrations.