Wexford jobs go due to US terror fall out

October 2001

Wexford-based Celtic Linen, which had been hoping to protect its workforce from season layoffs, has been forced to cut an entire nightshift because of the downturn in the hotel sector business since the September 11 atrocities.

Twenty-five people employed as full-time seasonal workers have lost their jobs just six weeks after the company told unions it hoped to maintain employment levels for the rest of the year.

Celtic Linen said every effort will be made to protect as much employment in the company as is humanly possible given the situation that it and similar companies find themselves in.

The huge slump in the number of visitors from the US since the September 11 terrorist outrages in Washington, New York and Philadelphia is said to be to blame for the current downturn in the hotel industry.

A spokesman for the company said the Celtic group of companies employed in the region of 540 people at the peak of its season this year.

‘ This level of employment has been built up over a number of years due to the sustained efforts of the company in building a company base. Annually, October brings a downturn in business and some employees are let go. This year is no expection, and recently 25 people have left the workforce.

‘In the light of the tragic events in the US on September 11 and the resulting effects on the Irish tourism industry, the company is monitoring the situation very carefully, but at this stage it is difficult to know what the final outcome on our business will be,’ said the spokesman.