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KILRUSH ROCKED BY LEADMORE CLOSURE

WEST Clare, and Kilrush in particular, was dealt another body low this week with the closure of ice cream manufacturers, Leadmore Dairies, with the loss of forty jobs.

Thirty employees at the Kilrush production plant and a further ten at their Cork distribution depot were made redundant last Friday and a meeting of Leadmore's creditors has been fixed for Thursday next, December 22.

This latest setback for Kilrush has prompted local public representatives to make an urgent appeal to Shannon Development and other state agencies to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the industry is saved.

Competition and weather related factors were blamed by a company spokesman for the problems which led to the closure of Leadmore Dairies which has been in operation since 1946. However, he stressed that the company would continue to trade for the moment with agents distributing their ice cream and frozen food products from existing stocks.

The spokesman said the company had been forced to make their employees redundant after negotiations with a potential buyer fell through. But, he hastened to add, there were ongoing negotiations with two other prospective buyers and he was hopeful that a deal could be struck with one of them to keep the long established industry going in West Clare.

Kilrush U.D.C. Chairman, Gerry O'Malley, summed up the feelings of townspeople when he described the closure of Leadmore Dairies as a "real tragedy"." He said it was a terrible blow for the thirty employees and their families coming so close to Christmas. Mr. O'Malley also expressed his regret at the loss of the other jobs at the company's Cork base.

"The closure of leadmore Dairies marks the end of an era for Kilrush"," said Mr. O'Malley. "The company provided good employment for many people since 1946"."

The Council Chairman said the latest round of job losses in Kilrush represented a cut of five per cent in the town's industrial employment base. He said that if the proposed E.S.B. rationalisation programme was implemented, with the net effect of 200 job losses at Moneypoint, West Clare could be labelled an industrial blackspot.

Mr. O'Malley said that every possible effort should be made to secure a new owner for the company. He believed that Leadmore Dairies had enormous potential if new products were developed and new markets opened up.

The Council Chairman appealed to business people in the area to show their support for Leadmore by continuing to buy their products which were being distributed by agents from stock.

A Shannon Development spokesman said they were doing everything possible to facilitate a takeover of Leadmore by a new owner. He expressed the hope that a deal could be sealed with one of two interested parties. The spokesman said the possibility of getting Leadmore involved in a joint venture with another company could also be considered and this would involve diversifying into a new range of products aimed at a different area of the ice cream market from that which they had traditionally serviced.

Meanwhile Clare Co. Council suspended standing orders on Monday to discuss an emergency motion which sought the immediate intervention of the Government in averting the closure of the Kilrush plant.

Describing the announcement of the job losses "as a black day for West Clare"," Fianna Fail councillor Bill Chambers tabled the motion, unanimously adopted, which called on the Government, the I.D.A. and Shannon development to come up with a rescue package to save Leadmore Dairies.

His views were endorsed by fellow party member, Patrick Keane, who said that the loss of thirty jobs in Kilrush was comparable to the loss of three hundred jobs in cities like Cork and Dublin. "It's important that the Government and some other state agencies step in and save the jobs at the Kilrush plant"," he remarked.

Kilrush councillor, Tom Prendeville, said that his immediate reaction to the close of the factory was one of deep regret and disappointment. Leadmore Dairies prided itself in the abiding loyalty and great sense of cooperation that existed between workers and management in this family-owned entreprise right up to the closure announcement last Friday.

Leadmore Dairies was one of the most successful ventures ever undertaken by the Glynn family in Kilrush. Close on sixty people were employed there during the high season and represented a huge injection of £ 1 million annually into the local economy through wages and services.

However, he said the closure wasn't totally unexpected. In recent months various factors had militated against the continued commercial viability of he operation. Despite increased marketing emphasis, sales of ice cream products had remained static, a matter not helped by poor weather, the impact of cheap imported ice cream products, depressed profit margins and ever tightening credit controls.

"The closure of Leadmore Dairies is another body blow to the economy of West Clare which is still reeling from the fallout effects of the closure of Woodfab, Ceremacis, Glynn's Mills and the threat of job cutbacks through the E.S.B. rationalisation plan at Moneypoint"," he commented.

Cllr. Prendeville said that there still remained "a slight glimmer of hope" that the Leadmore Dairies factory could be sold as a going concern and in that event some of the jobs lost last Friday could be salvaged under a new consortium.

Senator Madeleine Taylor-Quinn has described the loss of 40 jobs at Leadmore Dairies as a "tragedy" and a major economic setback to Kilrush. It was also a family disaster for the Glynn family who have been good employers in the town, she said.

She said that every effort must now be made to find a purchaser or arrange a joing venture between different parties to take over the operation of Leadmore Dairies which had been very successful in the past. All agencies, private and semi-private, would also have to give every backing possible to rescue the plant and ensure that the jobs were put back in place.

"The people and the areas cannot survive such a setback, in addition to the 200 jobs already under threat at Moneypoint Power Station"," said Senator Taylor-Quinn.
