There is no new industry to fill the void left by the closure of Powerscreen With the loss of 118 Powerscreen jobs, Kilbeggan faces an uncertain future, writes Olivia Kelly
It was one of the worst weeks for redundancies in the State. In just five working days spanning the end of June and beginning of July, 500 people in five industries lost their jobs.
Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, took one of the biggest hits. In a town of 800 people, 118 jobs were wiped out when Powerscreen, a company making screening and separating equipment for the landfill and quarry industries, announced its closure on June 31st.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, promised to do "everything possible" to ensure the workers were trained and equipped "for future opportunities".
However, in the mounting layoffs across the State, Kilbeggan moved out of the spotlight. The Powerscreen jobs are gone and there is no new industry to fill the void.
"If the same proportion of jobs went in Dublin or Galway, there'd be a national outcry," said Labour councillor Mr Joe Flanagan.
"This is a huge blow to Kilbeggan. The Department [of Enterprise\] is reputed to be looking for an alternative industry, but we haven't seen any sign of it."
Although there had been many other job losses, the Powerscreen closure was unexpected, said local Fianna Fáil councillor Mr Tom Cowley.
"People were on training when the announcement came and a number of people got jobs there a few months ago. Maybe there were bits of warnings, but Powerscreen has been in Kilbeggan for 30 years. It was taken over be an American company, Terex, a couple of years back, but we thought that would be a boost if anything."
Although the company announced its closure at the end of June, workers joined the job market gradually over the summer. A skeleton staff of five or six will stay on for another week or so and an accountant will remain until final closure at the end of the month.
Mr Liam Keegan, who was a general operative and welder, left at the start of July and has not found work. "I've been trying around, but there's nothing I'm trained for in Kilbeggan."
He had been with Powerscreen 2½ years, but had worked for the company previously, 20 years ago.
"A lot of people would have done that - gone and worked in Powerscreen for a bit and then gone off to do something else. There was always work going and it was only around the corner."
Mr Keegan is receiving unemployment benefit. He does not have a car, which he knows limits his job prospects, but fears that if he bought one, he might not get the job to pay the loan. It is the wrong time of year to be looking for heavy industrial work, he said, and he has little faith in FÁS schemes.
"I've done them before, they're a waste of time, they always have you out mowing lawns or painting, you never get anything solid out of it. I was happy enough in Powerscreen and I intended to stay there."
Most people in Kilbeggan have family members who worked for Powerscreen at some stage during the last 30 years.
The town has provided consistent employment for the surrounding villages of Clara, Horseleap and Ballycumber and with its location on the main Dublin to Galway road, it would be a prime location for new business, said Cllr Flanagan.
"Kilbeggan has never been a satellite town, like Kinnegad for Dublin or Moate for Athlone. People commuted to Kilbeggan to work, we need to ensure it stays that way."
Ms Marie Clear works in a newsagent's shop in the town. The closure has already had an effect, she said.
"At break time the lads would always buy their bits and pieces in the shops in the town and in the evening the town would be bumper to bumper with them. I'd say the pubs will really notice it coming up to Christmas. Powerscreen always had their parties in the town."
The bus to Dublin is more crowded in the mornings, she said. The new houses were a sign the town was booming, now she's not so sure.
"It would be terrible to see them all going to Dublin. Something needs to go into that factory to stop that happening."
Powerscreen brought Ms Clear and her husband Mike from Laois to Kilbeggan 26 years ago. He worked at the plant during the 1980s and returned there seven years ago to work in research and development. Now he wishes he'd never gone back.
"I'm vexed by the way it happened; just like that, without warning without gratitude."
It is the first time in his working life that Mike Clear has been out of work. He's approaching 50 now, and does not want to go back to heavy engineering. The union accepted the redundancy package - 1½ weeks per year of service in addition to the statutory payment - too quickly, he said, and although he is confident he will get work, it is the younger less skilled workers who will find it difficult to cope.
Ms Rachel Feery and her husband Trevor are in their early 30s. They have two children, Justin aged two and Tristan who is 3½. They moved to Kilbeggan in February 2001 and Mr Feery began working in Powerscreen that April.
"The wages were so low that Trevor was entitled to a medical card for the four of us, but it was still better than nothing."
Mr Feery intends to use his redundancy money to do a tiling course. The couple hope that way they will be able to afford to stay in the area. "If Trevor did tiling through FÁS, he'd be four years at it and he'd get about €180 a week. We'd never survive on it. Hopefully this way he'll be back in work soon."