Gerry Adams hosts Diageo workers in Dáil

WORKERS whose jobs are threatened by Guinness manufacturers Diageo with the closure of its brewery in Dundalk are being hosted this evening in the Dáil by Louth TD Gerry Adams to seek Oireachtas members’ support in  their negotiations with Diageo over job losses and a redundancy settlement.

Last January, as part of a restructuring strategy, Diageo announced the closure of the country’s oldest operating brewery in Kilkenny and its Dundalk plant, which first started as the Great Northern Railway Brewery in 1897.

The impact of Diageo’s decision is evident in the jobs lost:-

• 63 permanent Diageo job losses in Dundalk
• 45 contract worker job losses in Dundalk
• 45 permanent job losses in Kilkenny
• 100 contract worker job losses in Kilkenny

Gerry Adams said today:

“That’s 253 job losses in total. Some of the workers have worked in the plant for 30 years.

“Eight months on, and no redundancy arrangements have been agreed with the workers.

“I have invited the workers to come to the Dáil today to explain the current situation to TDs and seanadóirí.”