Limerick mayor John Moran privately said a high-profile intervention he made on the future of Aughinish Alumina was a “clever way” to avoid taking a “hard position” on the issue.
Last month, as the Government prepared to publish the findings of an inquiry into exports of alumina from the plant to Russia, Moran wrote to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke asking them to convene a forum amid uncertainty over the future of the facility.
Emails released to The Irish Times under freedom-of-information laws show Moran told an external communications consultant he thought the idea of calling for a forum was a “very clever way for me not to have to take a hard position, but to take a leadership role locally”.
Discussing the communications strategy around the letters to Government, Moran told consultancy firm Q4 that he didn’t expect a lot of coverage, but added: “I see it as a defensive mechanism mainly. Good thinking councillors on Monday at the [council] meeting would come attacking me saying I have done nothing.”
RM Block
It’s understood Q4 is acting on a short-term basis with the local authority.
Moran was wary that councillors – some of whom he has been engaged in political battles with during his term – “might even pass a motion asking me to do something and I look like I am quietly sitting back or only jumping because they said it”.
The former civil servant-turned-politician asked Martin and Burke to establish a forum under the legislation governing his office, which would bring together staff, management, trade unions and other stakeholders seeking “better communication” on the next steps at Aughinish.
From the Shannon to Siberia: How alumina from a Limerick refinery enters Russia’s weapons supply chain
- Aughinish Alumina in Co Limerick supplies vast amounts of raw materials to Russian aluminium smelters, according to an investigation by The Irish Times and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
- Read the full investigation here.
The emails show Moran was anxious to push the news of his letter out on a Friday, but the communications firm counselled he should instead aim for the Sunday newspapers and later broadcast interviews.
“Wouldn’t waste your sweetness mayor on a hot desert Friday as will get lost in the ice creams of this weather. Timing is everything in my view,” he was told.
The emails show the firm advised Moran that “many companies in Europe supply to Russia but they are not being attacked on all fronts and don’t have the scale of attack ranged against them as Aughinish does”.
It suggested that Rusal, the conglomerate that owns the plant, “may most likely wind it down” if the export of alumina was sanctioned by Europe, sending the vital raw material bauxite to other facilities in its network.
Moran was also advised that he would be asked if he had lobbied on behalf of the plant: “He can say he has not, but has spoken to local workers and local management, not Russians”, the firm told his office, arguing there was a need for “cool heads in this at Government too”.
“We shouldn’t let the pressure of the EU presidency get to us,” he was told, while being advised to take a “sophisticated” approach.
The firm warned Aughinish was as important to the region as other firms in recent decades that closed or shifted manufacturing abroad.
If Aughinish closed, it said: “It will be a car crash and will dominate the summer, cancelling holiday material I would expect.”
Moran and Q4 did not provide comment when contacted.
