Tánaiste Expresses Disappointment at Loss of Guinness jobs State Agencies Will Assist in Securing New Training and Employment Opportunities

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Mary Harney said today (Friday 14th July, 2000) that she was extremely disappointed at the announcement by Guinness Ireland that it is to significantly scale back its operations in Dundalk with a consequent loss of employment.

The Tánaiste said "This is extremely bad news for the workers concerned many of whom have been employed by Guinness in Dundalk for a long number of years. The Guinness tradition is very much an Irish tradition and I am, of course, disappointed that the company has found it necessary to make this decision."

"I have had a number of meetings with senior representatives of the company in recent weeks, including with Colin Storm, Chief Executive Guinness Worldwide Brewery, as late as last Monday. I was therefore aware that the outlook was not positive but today’s announcement from the company was very disappointing nonetheless," the Tánaiste said.

"At my meetings with the Guinness representatives, I asked them to work closely with Enterprise Ireland with a view to identifying and agreeing initiatives to assist in the continued economic development of Dundalk," the Tánaiste added.

"I have established an Inter-Agency group, including representatives of Enterprise Ireland and FÁS, and have asked them to determine, together with Guinness Ireland, how the impact of this decision can be minimised in so far as possible and to assist those who have lost their jobs in finding alternative employment," the Tánaiste continued.

"As part of this exercise, I am also asking FÁS to begin assessing the skills profile of the workers concerned and to ensure that any necessary retraining facilities will be available to those seeking alternative employment," the Tánaiste concluded.