'Very sad day' as briquette factory in Offaly closes down
Derrinlough Briquette Factory officially ceased peat production and closed down on Thursday last.
Speaking to the Midland Tribune a SIPTU official said the closure is “a very, very sad day.”
Adrian Kane, Divisional Organiser in SIPTU, pointed out that Derrinlough was the last of the nation's briquette factories. “These briquette factories produced the nation's fuel for many years. This is the closure of a way of life. The employees of Bord na Móna were instrumental in the building of the nation. Their contribution should never be underestimated.”
Adrian said the future of many of the 62 workers in Derrinlough has still not been hammered out. On Monday of this week (May 29th), a SIPTU official met with Bord na Móna before the Joint Industrial Relations Council (JIRC) in Dublin. The JIRC deals with resolving difficulties concerning internal industrial relations.
Among the issues discussed in Monday's meeting were the redeployment opportunities being offered by Bord na Móna to the Derrinlough employees, and the wages that would be associated with those redeployment opportunities. Also discussed was redundancy payments for those workers above a certain age.
The JIRC is currently deliberating on what it heard during Monday's hearing and is expected to make a decision at some stage this week or next. Once the decision is known then SIPTU will meet with the employees.
Adrian Kane pointed out that Bord na Móna told SIPTU several months ago that it was the company's decision to keep Derrinlough open until the first quarter of 2024. SIPTU then began discussing with the company from that point forward various proposals about redeployment and wages; but in April the company announced it had brought the date forward to June the 1st.
All work in the factory stopped on Friday last May 26th when a machine broke down and it was decided it wasn't worth fixing it.
SIPTU says some of the employees have gone to alternative employment, and others have applied for redundancy. However, as of yet, no one has officially been made redundant by the company. Some of the workers are currently employed in the decommissioning of the factory. Others may be heading into Bord na Móna's bog rewetting programme, but that hasn't been finalised yet.
Adrian Kane stressed that SIPTU's officers find it difficult negotiating with Bord na Móna. “I worked in Bord na Móna for a number of years many years ago. I'm therefore very familiar with the company. Dealing with industrial relations issues was considerably smoother up until about 2005, after which time the company became much less worker-friendly and we were back in the trenches. In our experience, the company has insufficient regard for its workers. It was in fact the Trade Union movement which saved the company.” The majority of employees in Derrinlough are represented by SIPTU.
Bord Na Móna says it's in the process of redeploying “all employees impacted by the closure of the Derrinlough Briquette Factory,” and is re-deploying them across the company's Renewable Energy, Land & Habitats and Recycling businesses. The company said it remains committed to “supporting those employees.” It added that it will now “consider the future use of the Derrlinlough facility, while decommissioning takes place”.
Its official statement says:
"Bord na Móna has concluded all briquette production operations at its Derrinlough peat factory in Co. Offaly. Decommissioning of the briquette factory has commenced and will take a number of months to complete. During this time, Bord na Móna will be exploring alternative options for the future use of the site. The closure of Derrinlough marks the final stage of the company’s wider commitment to cease peat harvesting in 2021, exhaust existing peat stocks for briquette production, and complete its transition from a traditional peat business to a climate solutions and renewable energy company.
“Bord na Móna is fully committed to supporting all impacted employees and has implemented a redeployment strategy to provide alternative positions and retraining opportunities within the wider business. All impacted employees have now been redeployed across Bord na Móna’s Renewable Energy, Land & Habitats and Recycling businesses.
“As part of its Brown to Green Strategy Bord na Móna is now entirely focused on renewable energy generation, recycling, peatlands restoration, biodiversity and the development of new, low-carbon enterprises. It will continue expanding its sustainable project portfolio to support Ireland in achieving its renewable energy requirements by 2030, and its net zero emissions by 2050."