Tag Archives: business

WORKERS at Moneypoint have been warned that the only way the plant can remain viable as a coal burning station even until 2025 is if they quickly accept the terms being offered to them, which would see at least 106 employees made redundant. A letter, sent by station manager Seán Hegarty to the workers, warned that the plan must be in place in just over two months. “The survival plan for Moneypoint is time-bound and has a limited shelf life. If this survival plan is rejected, there is not sufficient time for another process to conclude in time for the October 31 deadline, when this Voluntary Severance Scheme is closed and in time for bidding costs into the T-1 and T-2 auctions that give us a chance of success later in the year. In the absence of this survival plan, the existing costs of Moneypoint are not sustainable and will not continue.” The letter, which is extremely frank, also stated, …

WHILE a document is going to Moneypoint workers with proposals for major cost cutting, union members at the plant are very likely to reject it. It is understood that a general meeting of staff, with union officials attending, took place at the plant last Friday. A substantial document has been completed but one worker said that its contents are “just sh*te” from an employee’s perspective and that workers will not accept its terms. A ballot is due to conclude by early September but it is expected that these initial proposals will be rejected comprehensively. One of the major flaws in it, from the workers’ perspective, is a perceived lack of clarity about how people would be selected for redundancy. The ESB plans to lay off around 106 workers later this year, retaining just 86. However, there are fears that under the current document, people who wish to stay could be made compulsorily redundant and people who would like to avail …

THERE was surprise and disappointment on Tuesday as it was announced that The Clare People newspaper had closed, after 14 years in business. It is understood that a meeting of its creditors is due to take place on August 23 at Hotel Woodstock and that the company will nominate Tom Murray of Friel Stafford as liquidator. The company has two directors, Emmet Moloney, a Clarecastle man who edited The Clare People for several years and Dómhnal Slattery, the hugely successful Ennis businessman, who is chief executive of aviation leasing company Avolon. The company last filed accounts covering 2017 and these show that it made a loss of €135,440 for the year. This was worse than 2016, when the loss had been just under €67,000. Liabilities exceeded assets, with the equity attributable to the owners a negative amount, of just over -€1.4 million The accounts showed that a sum of €747,283 was repayable to Mr Slattery, with this figure having increased …

WHOEVER was left in charge of the Dublin Airport Twitter account last week may have done Shannon an entirely unintended favour. Many thousands of people in Clare and indeed Limerick feel strongly about the success of the airport upon which the region’s economy depends and when Dublin Airport posted a ridiculous, self-regarding tweet about being the key gateway for the 2026 Ryder Cup in Adare, it really jarred. It has helped bring attention to the plight of our struggling airport and the fallout will show local politicians that they must take action to arrest its decline. The term fake news is derided because Donald Trump coined it and has aimed it at some of the most reputable media organisations in the world. Yet the depressing reality is that fake news is often widely believed nowadays, with ease of access to publication through social media and weak deterrents meaning that people are merrily spreading lies all around the world, every single …

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 …

My friends at the Dogs Trust charity have come up with a wonderful idea I want to tell you about. Next Friday week, June 21, is Dog Friendly Ireland Day, a day when all business owners are encouraged to open up their premises to us canines. We’ve a lot of work to do in this area. Despite 40% of all households in Ireland taking the enlightened decision to have a dog about the place, we lag far behind the rest of Europe when it comes to dog-friendly facilities. When I went on holidays to Devon and Cornwall a few years ago – come to think of it, it’s high time I went back – everywhere I went I was welcomed with open arms. Nearly every pub, café or restaurant had a sign that said ‘Well behaved dogs welcome’. I’m always well behaved and it was lovely to sit under a chair while my humans enjoyed a drink or meal and …

2019 is not a bad time to become president of Ennis Chamber, as Gwen Culligan is doing, with the town’s economy in a relatively sweet spot, while still strengthening and improving. Gwen is co-owner of the County Boutique on O’Connell Street, with her sister Maeve Flouch, and it is a family business that goes back to the 1960s. The business was a huge part of Gwen’s childhood. “Our playground was O’Connell Street. After school, at lunchtime from school and whatever, we’d be there. I’m from Clon Road, so we’re real townies,” she laughs. Her mother worked in the business right up until her death in 2005. Gwen was away for a number of years working in AIB but has been in the shop for around 30 years now, placing her at the heart of Ennis commerce. She has also been active in the chamber for quite a long spell. “I’ve been involved in the chamber on and off for years. …

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 …