Mayor of Limerick tells Taoiseach of his concerns for workforce at Aughinish

John Moran wrote to Micheál Martin calling on the Government to ensure Aughinish Alumina workers are 'at the table' amid concerns for 1,000 jobs at the plant

A file photo of Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD and Mayor of Limerick John Moran at last year's Limerick mayoral and government consultative forum at City Hall. Picture: Eamon Ward

The Mayor of Limerick has written to the Taoiseach calling on the Government to make sure Aughinish Alumina workers are "at the table", as concerns around the future of the plant mount.

Calling for the creation of a forum to discuss the issue and develop a co-ordinated response to potential sanctions, John Moran has warned that the voices of those directly involved must be heard.

"Somebody needs to be speaking for the workers, somebody needs to be speaking to the suppliers, the residents of Limerick," Mr Moran said, before adding that "the people of Limerick aren't confident that that's happening at the moment".

Investigative reports have revealed that alumina from the Limerick plant is being sent to Russia, before being turned into aluminium and used to make weapons, with sanctions now being mooted at EU level.

In his letter, which has also been sent to enterprise minister Peter Burke, Mr Moran said a forum, established under the powers available to his office, should be set up to improve communications between workers, unions and the company to ensure all stakeholders are fully prepared for any decision that may be made at EU level.

"This is actually just reflecting the concern that's rolling around in Limerick, and obviously the information hasn't been shared by the Government to my office and others. I think we need to remind them of the importance of these voices," he told RTÉ's This Week programme.

Mayor not calling for 'expropriation'  

The directly-elected mayor said the decision isn't an easy one, and suggested that the input of all stakeholders is critical given the 1,000 jobs that could be at risk.

"It may be that the answer is some form of intervention," Mr Moran said.

"It may be that there's some form of a buyout of the shares; it's not nationalisation in terms of expropriation that I'm recommending — but I think we just need to be working out how do we deal with a complex situation, get all the facts, and make the decision accordingly," he said

TD: 'Alumina used in Russia's genocidal campaign'

Calling on the Government to nationalise the plant, Limerick City TD Conor Sheehan said: "I can't stand over alumina being exported to Russia, being essentially used in Russia's genocidal campaign.

"We have a global shortage of aluminium, so the idea that a workaround can't be sought, can't be found here, when the report comes back to allow Aughinish to diversify, I think we need to nationalise it because it is owned by a Russian oligarch," the Labour politician said.

A woman in Kyiv, Ukraine, looks on as an apartment building burns after being hit by a Russian missile on July 2. Picture: Danylo Antoniuk/AP

Reiterating a call to nationalise the facility, Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway Walsh said: "We cannot have companies operating in this State that are not adhering to international law".

Mr Burke has already ruled out nationalising the Aughinish operation, stating it is “not an option” as the constitutional threshold for doing so is “not high enough”.

Higher education minister James Lawless said the EU uses 40% of the product from the plant, but said the Government would make the "right call" after a Department of Enterprise investigation around whether the Limerick-based plant is contributing to the Russian war effort in Ukraine is completed in the coming days.

"We don't want to cut off our nose and spite our face. We will look at it very seriously. We will apply due diligence and make the right call," Mr Lawless told RTÉ's The Week in Politics programme.