THE COLLAPSE of Fokker may cost 2,000 jobs in Northern Ireland. Short Brothers, a major supplier to the bankrupt Dutch lanemaker, will now have to shed about 1,000 jobs, while another 1,000 indirect jobs are threatened.
Shorts, the Belfast aerospace company, sent home 700 workers after Fokker announced yesterday that it was insolvent. Shorts said that, overall, the loss of the Fokker contract would cost the company about 1,000 jobs.
The DUP MP, Mr Peter Robinson, in whose East Belfast constituency Shorts is, said the bankruptcy of Fokker was a "devastating blow" which would have a major impact on the Northern Ireland economy.
Shorts is currently tendering for two multi million pound contracts with the British Ministry of Defence. Mr Robinson called on the British government to award Shorts these contracts to help offset the loss of the Fokker work.
Several companies in Northern Ireland carry out sub contracted work for Shorts on behalf of Fokker. For every job lost at Shorts, which made wings for the Dutch company, another job will be lost outside the company.
Already, Maydown Engineering Co in Derry, which sub contracts for Shorts, has placed 50 workers on protective notice.
Mr Joe Bowers, of the MSF union, criticised the British government for failing to try to rescue Fokker and safeguard jobs in Northern Ireland. "They were totally silent during the whole crisis", he complained.
Mr Reg Empey, a former UUP Lord Mayor of Belfast, said the loss of the Fokker contract would destroy a "dramatic slice" of manufacturing jobs in Belfast.
Mr Sean Neeson, the Alliance Party's chief whip, has called for the creation of an aerospace business task force to identify gaps in the market resulting from the Fokker collapse which Shorts might be able to exploit.
Mr Ken Brundle, vice president of Shorts, said the company had enjoyed a good working relationship with Fokker for over 30 years. Its collapse would have a severe impact on Shorts, but it did not pose a threat to the company, which employs 6,800 people in Northern Ireland.
Shorts said that, while 1,000 jobs were likely to be lost, every effort would be made to lessen the impact on the workers through redeployment, early retirement, voluntary redundancy and retraining.
