Tag Archives: jobs

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 …

JOBS are at risk at Shannon IT company Avocent today. The company is a subsidiary of Vertiv, and in a statement it said, “Vertiv has notified the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection that we are considering staffing changes at our Shannon site. We are keeping our employees and customers informed. This is part of our efforts to deliver our products and services to our customers in the most effective and affordable way possible.” According to its accounts, Avocent International Designated Activity Company employed 84 people in the year to September 30, 2017. It had an after tax profit of US$6.4 million. Owen Ryan      

PEOPLE living adjacent to the site of a proposed one million square foot data centre campus on the outskirts of Ennis have been almost completely left in the dark about the implications for them. On Wednesday, several of the people living close to the site said that while prospective developer Tom McNamara has spoken to them, they still have little information and harbour significant concerns. One woman said she is “totally in shock”, while resident Edward Casey said it has caused a degree of upset in the area. “A neighbour of ours didn’t sleep for two or three nights after hearing about it. The first time I heard it, I didn’t know what to think. I have a business, going well, but it could be turned upside down,” he said. However, Mr McNamara, said that consultation has taken place. “Significant consultation has already taken place with adjoining residents and there is more to follow,” Mr McNamara told The Clare Champion on …

TURAS Nua has announced they are increasing their efforts to work with more employers in Clare and are targeting an additional 160 businesses and organisations over the course of the coming year. This is on top of the 490 employers there are already working with in the county. The employment activation organisation delivers the JobPath programme on behalf of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in 13 counties across the southern half of the Republic of Ireland. They are now placing approximately 1,000 people in jobs each month. In Clare they have already helped 1,131 people find work and expect that number to increase further over the course of the coming year. Turas Nua help prepare the long term unemployed (ie those out of work for 12 months or longer) to secure and sustain employment. Across their entire area of operations Turas Nua has now placed more than 20,000 long term unemployed people in work. While a total …