Driving change - Ford a century in Ireland

THE motor giant Henry Ford and Son passed a significant milestone yesterday, one that many companies of that scale and influence do not even reach. 

The company celebrated a century of business in this country and all of the wonderful achievements, commercial and social, that implies.

During that century the company provided work for tens of thousands of people and was one of the positive, transformative influences in this region. It lifted many, many families out of the grinding poverty that once seemed so inescapable. It gave generations of Irish people the dignity of a new, unknown economic independence. Those jobs also made it possible for generations of Irish people to realise their educational ambitions in a way their forefathers could not have imagined. In this way, Ford made a contribution to the shaping of today’s Ireland far beyond that which is immediately apparent. In an age when so many of the practices of transnational corporations are so very questionable, this company stands out as one that facilitated real, empowering change for its workers and this society.