Irish Steel: all that’s left is a waste mountain

IRISH Steel is one of the great disasters of denationalisation. Heralded as one of greatest industrial achievements of the 1960s and ’70s, it was run down by poor management and work practices.

There’s no doubt that the plant was bleeding the taxpayer dry by the end of the ’90s, costing countless millions in subsidies to keep it afloat.

Privatisation for the princely sum of £1 was the solution of the Government of the day.