Manufacturing group Glen Dimplex has initiated a consultation process with workers in Dunleer, Co Louth where it is seeking about 70 redundancies as part of a restructuring that will end manufacturing by the company in the town.
Employees were called into a meeting with management on Thursday morning when they were told the company, which makes and distributes electrical heating and other appliances, would seek to concentrate its manufacturing operation on the island of Ireland at its plant in Newry.
As part of a wider restructuring announced last year, Glen Dimplex said it would relocate a distribution centre from north Dublin to Dunleer and locate a research and development unit in the town, where it currently has two sites, but that one of those sites would close.
In all some 300 jobs were expected to be lost as the company sought to cut the number of sites at which it was operating in Ireland from five to three although the company said it would creating a significant number of new roles in other areas of its operation.
The expected loss of 70 manufacturing jobs in Dunleer will come as a blow to the town with local Labour Party TD Ged Nash describing it as “a disaster” for the staff and their families.
“It sounds the death knell for good manufacturing jobs at the Dunleer plant and I am calling on the company to now engage meaningfully with workers and their representatives in Siptu to explore every alternative short of redundancies,” he said.
“If it is the case that redundancies cannot be avoided, the company must co-operate with unions to deliver a fair, collective and genuinely consultative redundancy process.
“This is an enormous blow for the town of Dunleer and the mid-Louth region and requires a national response from Government and State agencies to bring new jobs to the region and make sure affected workers find alternative employment quickly.”
In a statement, the company said it was, in part, reacting to a slower-than-expected transition to heat pump and other new technologies. As a result, it said, it was having to consolidate some of its operations while investing in the Newry plant and one in Lithuania.
“Regrettably, the proposed consolidation is expected to result in the loss of approximately 70 jobs in Dunleer and would be completed by October 2025,” it said.
“Management will work with employee representatives in Dunleer, trade unions and local training and support agencies to support colleagues through this change and to deliver appropriate outplacement and training supports. Following these developments and previously announced changes on the island of Ireland, Glen Dimplex remains committed to being a leading player in the transition to a more sustainable world.”
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