Reynolds vows to try to save pet food factory jobs after blaze

Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds tonight said his family would do everything they could to secure the 500 jobs at risk following a fire at a pet food factory in Longford.

But Mr Reynold’s son Philip, who now manages and owns C&D Pet Foods plant, said he could not promise the plant would be rebuilt without properly assessing the damage first.

The former Taoiseach said the blaze was a disaster for the area and the damage to the factory was far worse than originally believed.

Mr Reynold’s said there was no spare capacity for the factory’s work to be carried out by operations in the UK.

“We just don’t know. We have to try everything, and try everything we will and Philip I tell you is not interested in sleep. He is interested in doing whatever he can because there is such a loyal staff in the place,” Mr Reynolds said, adding the cannery section of the plant was totally destroyed in the fire on Sunday night.

The C&D Pet Foods plant was established by the former Taoiseach in Edgeworthstown more than 30 years ago and employs around 500 people.

Cathal Kelly, who has been working at the plant for 20 years, said this would affect the entire area as the factory is a major employer.

“The Reynolds family have been 35 years in the business, they won’t let something like that stop them,” he said. “It is just the time it will take.”

Mr Kelly said the company had major contracts with UK supermarket chains including Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury and jobs would go if the contracts were lost in the long-term.

Mr Kelly, who comes from Edgeworthstown, said: “It is a close-knit community, it will hit hard if it is as bad as reports are now.”

He added: “I’m 20 years in it and I’ve never been out of work. There’s always been overtime. The damage was done in an hour. It is hard to take - people who don’t even work in it were shocked. It will affect people in town who don’t even work in it,” the 36-year-old, who has two children aged two and four, said.

“It is as bad as when the Glanbia plant closed in (nearby) Rooskey, you never think it is going to happen on your own door.”

The 36-year-old said new multi-million euro factory building, which was constructed around five-years-ago was now a shell.

Mr Kelly, who was a supervisor in the chunks and gravy plant, said workers were gathering outside the factory all day in the hope of good news.

He said the plant was family-orientated – with around 350 local people working in it and around 150 non-nationals.

“Many young people who are married are working there, with young kids and mortgages. My brother works there we started together, my sister works there and her husband. There are 11 children between the three families,” he said.

Mr Reynolds said they were relieved no-one was killed in the fire on Sunday night as 33 workers were on duty but were all safely evacuated.

“What happened was bad enough and it is a disaster for the whole area, there is no question about it, when you think of up to 500 families you know, there are still a few there from the time it was opened first,” he told RTE Radio.

Fire officers and gardaí are working to identify how the blaze erupted. They are believed to be examining a cold room storage area in the factory as the possible site of the fire.

Longford County mayor Frank Kilbride said the damage to the factory was about the worst news possible for the town.

“It’s one of the biggest employers in the Midlands, let alone Edgeworthstown. It’s absolutely devastating and there is great concern in the town about this,” he said.

Willie Penrose, the Labour Party’s TD for Westmeath, said the knock-on effect of this for the local area will be extremely serious.

“At this point in time, we have lost the best part of 400-500 jobs. But certainly at the council, we’ll try to give them any assistance that we possibly can,” Mr Kilbride said.

Niall Philips, from SIPTU’s Longford branch, said there were no alternative jobs for workers in the area as it was only three years since the Glanbia bacon factory in Rooskey was also destroyed by fire with the loss of 350 jobs.

The factory hit the headlines in 1992 when it emerged that a Saudi businessman, Khalid al-Masri, had invested 1.1 million Irish pounds in it as part of the passports for investment scheme.

Mr Reynolds denied he had any knowledge of the investment.