Tag Archives: jobs

Fianna Fáil TD for Clare Cathal Crowe has said that last evening’s announcement about job cuts at Shannon Airport was a premature step. A letter circulated to workers informing them of the decision, which has been attributed to the unprecedented challenges in the aviation sector. Voluntary severance packages, reduced working hours and career breaks are all being offered. “This is a huge blow to not only the airport but also the county and region as a whole,” said Deputy Crowe. “I feel the decision was taken prematurely and it would have been more prudent to wait to see is contained in the July stimulus package in terms of support for the airport. “This week, I’ve been in contact with staff at Shannon Airport and Shannon Heritage and based on their stories, I’ve a list of 29 questions compiled which I will be raising directly with Mary Considine today. “I also intend to seek a meeting with Micheál Martin to discuss …

CLARE has been ranked fifth highest of Irish counties most exposed to “significant economic disruption” caused by the Covid-19 outbreak with more than half of the commercial units in the county likely to be affected. Cooraclare economist John Daly has conducted a study for the three Regional Assemblies of Ireland which found 50.5% of Clare’s commercial units were operating in sectors likely to be worst affected by Covid-19. This represents just over 2,500 businesses in Clare. The analysis found that 51% of units in Newmarket-on-Fergus were at risk, 47.7% in Ennis, 43.8% Kilrush, 42.6% Sixmilebridge and 32.6% in Shannon. Coastal and rural counties are more likely to be exposed due to their reliance on commercial units that generally require human interaction and cannot be operated remotely, the study outlines. The GeoDirectory commercial database has been used in identifying each area’s reliance on sectors likely to be affected by measures designed to curtail the spread of Covid-19. Sectors determined as likely …

SHANNON company Modular Automation has announced it will create another 100 jobs by 2023. It has also acquired eight acres of land for future development and 60,000ft2 of ‘ready to go’ production space, to support immediate capacity requirements. An Irish company, it has been in business since 1986 and is now involved in the MedTech manufacturing sector. Ireland is the second largest exporter of medical devices in Europe, with nine of the world’s top 10 MedTech companies based here. Modular Automation’s customer base includes the likes of Johnson & Johnson, Stryker and Boston Scientific. “Our team has doubled in the past five years to over 170 employees and due to growing demand, we now plan to create another 100 jobs over the next three years. We are also investing to substantially expand our facility to give us the capacity to deliver more for our customers, both at home and across the US,” said Vivian Farrell, CEO of Modular Automation. Modular …

THERE are hopes that a substantial number of the 500 redundancies at Shannon company Molex might yet be avoided. It is understood that a particular section of the Shannon plant has been particularly successful in recent times. The section in question provides products that are bought mainly by medical device company Aerogen, which has a base in Galway. According to Molex employees, around 100 staff have been working in this area and revenue in the region of €1.5 million per month has been coming in. If production of the items required by Aerogen is moved away from Shannon, it is likely to cause huge disruption for the Galway company. It is understood that the possibility of them being supplied with product from another Irish site has been raised but Aerogen management are said to be uneasy about such a move. On Wednesday, Patrick Power, director of business development with Aerogen, acknowledged that the closure of the Shannon plant would create …

WITH jobs going in a number of companies in Clare, the county’s Mayor Cathal Crowe said the situation is unprecedented, at a special meeting of Clare County Council on Friday afternoon. “The recent announcement of job losses in Clare has been quite unprecedented. The loss of more than 500 jobs in Molex, 240 jobs at Roche Clarecastle, potentially the loss of 114 jobs at Avara Pharmaceutical and the ongoing uncertainty at Moneypoint all has the potential to have a devastating impact on this county’s economy. There is also a knock-on effect, not yet known, for smaller businesses in the supply chain. We in Clare County Council must hold our counterparts in national government to account. On behalf of the workers and their families we must make a stand and demand the intervention and support of the government and other state agencies.” He added, “Parallels can be drawn between what County Clare is experiencing now and what the people of Limerick …

SOURCES have told the Clare Champion that staff at the Moneypoint Power Plant have today been told that management wish to reduce its staffing level from 192 to 86. It had been widely expected that job losses would be announced at the plant today, while ESB representatives are set to meet Clare’s Oireachtas members later this week. The ESB issued a statement this evening, but declined to confirm how many staff they wish to make redundant. “Since its commissioning in 1985, Moneypoint Power Station has played a key role in supporting the national economy through the delivery of secure, reliable and affordable power.  However, in recent years Moneypoint has been operating in an increasingly competitive energy market, actively competing to sell power and competing in auctions to acquire capacity contracts for the plant.    “In addition, the growing volume of renewables in the market and the impact of carbon prices on the price of Moneypoint output, has meant that Moneypoint …

IT is understood that workers at Moneypoint are today being informed of major job losses at the plant. When contacted this afternoon the ESB said that they will be making a statement, but that its employees must be briefed first.   More to follow…

PEOPLE may be on tenterhooks over Brexit but there are indications that the local economy is still performing well, with unemployment falling again in February. There were 4,876 signing on the Live Register in February, down from 5,045 in January. Year on year, the number signing on is down by 939, or 16% of the February 2018 total. West Clare County Councillor Ian Lynch works in construction and he said there has been an improvement. “It’s more positive than it has been. In the construction sector, on a national scale, there has definitely been a pick-up but in the Mid-West Region, there is no major activity. What I’m finding is that the smaller contractors, who are doing houses and extensions and stuff, are actually gone a little bit quieter. But while there is no huge demand for work, they’re still tipping away; there aren’t long spells of three or four weeks out of work. “You’d find a lot of them …