Government 'keen' to keep Aughinish Alumina operating amid fears of sanctions

The Aughinish Alumina plant near Askeaton, Co. Limerick photographed in 1998. Picture: Kieran Clancy

The Government is "keen" to keep the Aughinish Alumina plant operating amid uncertainty about whether it will be affected by EU sanctions on Russia.

The plant is owned by Russian company Rusal and its majority shareholder EN+ but both have thus far avoided sanctions. However, Oleg Deripaska, an industrialist who has had close links with the British political establishment, has been sanctioned by the UK in the last fortnight and the US in 2018. The latter sanctions forced Mr Deripaska to relinquish his majority stake in EN+.