Cantillon: Cheerleaders lose their voices on Intel news

Ireland Inc's biggest cheerleaders were unusually quiet following the news that Intel is to cut 12,000 jobs worldwide. IDA Ireland and the American Chamber of Commerce can usually be relied on to loudly celebrate foreign direct investment announcements.

However, this week both were operating a strict “no comment” policy, and even eliciting this response proved to be somewhat taxing.

They weren't the only ones to put their pom-poms aside, mind. The likes of ICT Ireland, an Ibec-affiliated lobby group, which describes itself as the leading representative body for the tech sector, was also tight-lipped on Intel's plans.

No details have emerged on where the job losses will fall. And while it is understandable that organisations would be wary of risking the wrath of one of the State’s biggest employers by commenting out of turn, the silence is deafening.

At a time when Intel employees would no doubt welcome some comforting words, the failure of ICT Ireland and the American chamber to say anything at all is troubling.