New Ross in Co Wexford was shocked yesterday by the sudden closure of a Dutch-owned business, Hartman Ireland Ltd, with the loss of about 70 full-time and 50 seasonal or part-time jobs.
The company, which manufactured garden furniture for export, has been in business in New Ross for just over 20 years. Workers arrived back from their annual holidays yesterday to find the gates of the factory at Raheen locked and security men with guard dogs patrolling the grounds.
The IDA and trade union officials expressed outrage at the abrupt manner of the closure, of which they were first notified late on Monday afternoon.
The company is understood to have received grant aid totalling almost £2.5 million. There are outstanding liabilities of some £1.5 million to the IDA, which was yesterday attempting to set up an emergency meeting with principals of the parent company, the Hartman Group, in Enschede, the Netherlands.
A statement issued yesterday on behalf of the Hartman Group, and dated August 14th, announced the withdrawal of all production activities from the New Ross plant. It said that as a result of "significant changes" in the market for leisure furniture in the UK, the group had been obliged to adopt a new strategy.
"Strong competition from outside Ireland and the UK has resulted in production costs in New Ross being some 20 to 25 per cent too high," the statement said. "The group, as a result has been confronted with (a) dramatic drop in sales volumes in the UK."
It added that the headlines of the new group strategy were to stop own-production of traditional steel-based furniture and obtain what was required from outside the group, and to concentrate all resin production for European markets in Enschede.
An IDA spokesman said that as recently as last May the company had assured it that the future looked good and that ideas were being developed for new products. "They said they did not anticipate any major difficulties and that if they did they would come back and let us know.
"Effectively they have now walked away from the operation without giving any warning to the workforce. They haven't done anything in line with normal business practice, by any standards," he added.
A letter circulated to workers by the plant management on July 9th, following discussions with SIPTU representatives, had confirmed there would be a four-week seasonal lay-off between August 18th and September 14th, following staff holidays. It added: "On 15 September normal terms and conditions of employment for all permanent employees shall be resumed."
Ms Marie Butler, SIPTU branch secretary in Waterford, said yesterday that there had been negotiations with the company on a productivity deal, with which the workers were co-operating fully.
"They had been telling us their unit cost price in Ireland was too high and that the product could be made much cheaper in the Far East," she said.
"We just can't believe this development. It is an intolerable situation, which is going to cause much suffering and hardship to the employees.
"The workers feel hurt and betrayed that after years of service their plant should be closed down without any prior warning, notification or consultation. I'm very disappointed that we weren't given any opportunity to influence this decision."
Ms Butler said SIPTU had been urging Hartman for several years to diversify, as there had always been a problem with the seasonal downturn in the market for garden furniture.
The Hartman Group announced it had retained a Waterford financial consultant, Mr Terry Crosbie, "to assist locally in guiding the withdrawal and to lead the discussions with the official representatives in the New Ross workforce."
It said it had also retained outplacement specialists "to help the workforce find new employment, and has asked the IDA to help in finding a new industry to use the premises and perhaps the workforce in a new project for the New Ross area."
The company began operations in New Ross in 1978 under the name Bemico. It ran separate production lines for plastic and steel garden furniture.