The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
IDA stay silent on Tralee jobs
THE IDA – the body charged with generating and keeping foreign investment in Ireland – has said it had no advance warning that Borg Warner was about to pull the plug on its Tralee plant with the loss of 210 jobs.
As the devastating news of the plant’s closure began to emerge last week it soon became apparent that Borg Warner’s announcement had taken the IDA entirely by surprise.
A request to the IDA from The Kerryman for comment on the situation received only the brief response that the closure was “a matter for Borg Warner”.
Speaking off the record, several local politicians and leading figures in Tralee’s business community have expressed deep dissatisfaction at the IDA’s response to their own urgent enquiries on the situation.
It was several hours before any form of public response to the factory closure emanated from the IDA and, even then, it did not actually come from the agency itself.
In a statement that Tuesday evening Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar addressed the IDA’s role.
Mr Varadkar claimed that “The IDA did everything it could to sustain the firm’s presence here (in Tralee) over recent years.”
In the very next sentence – and in a seemingly contradictory remark – Mr Varadkar said the IDA had been in the dark about Borg Warner’s plans for Tralee.
“The Government and the Agency were not, unfortunately, informed in advance that the company was considering closing its facility in Tralee,” the Tánaiste said.
In the days since the shock announcement both Mr Varadkar and Tralee based Education Minister Norma Foley have said the IDA will work with Borg Warner to “find alternative investment and employment for the plant.”
Minister Foley added she had spoken directly with IDA CEO Martin Shanahan – who hails from Abbeydorney – about the situation.
For its own part the IDA has remained silent on what is the biggest single loss of jobs in Kerry in recent years.
On its website and social media Mr Shanahan and his agency have promoted clients, events and job announcements in Dublin, Cork, Laois and Offaly.
The Emmy nominations for the TV adaptation of ‘Normal People’ also warranted a congratulatory tweet from the IDA last Wednesday.
The loss of 210 normal people’s jobs at one of their clients’ factories the day before is yet to be acknowledged.