Aventas CEO condemns Packaging plant attack

The CEO of the former Quinn Group of manufacturing companies, now rebranded Aventas Group, Paul O'Brien has added his voice to the growing chorus of condemnation against the latest attack on company property.

Aventas he says is now even looking to arrange a meeting with authorities either side of the border with a view to agree on measures to stop the attacks and bring those involved to justice.

In a letter to The Anglo-Celt, Mr O'Brien said last night's attack on the Packaging plant at Ballyconnell, which was fully operational at the time, was 'reckless in the extreme'. 

'The fire bomb vehicle used in the attack was driven into an area where facilities are used by employees throughout the night. It was only by good fortune that no one was injured', he said.

Mr O'Brien once again reiterated the seriousness to which the company takes it's duty of care towards all staff working there and said: 'We will continue to take all necessary steps to protect both our business assets and most fundamentally our people.

'I want to make it very clear to all involved that my resolve and that of my management team, the Board of our Group and our owners and investors, is only strengthened by these attacks the most recent of which are designed to prevent the sale of any of the Group's assets.

'We have a clear objective to protect, maximise and, over time, realise the value in the businesses for our owners; we will not be deterred from this objective', he said.

In his statement to this newspaper, Mr O'Brien rounded on what he described as 'vicious and inflammatory postings on various social media platforms' over the past year and a half, and stated they served as a 'common thread' between recent attacks 'and other more recent nefarious activities.'

'The underlying strategy seems to be one of damaging value, striking fear into our employees and to discourage any genuine prospective acquirers of our businesses. These reckless actions of sabotage are in some extraordinary way deemed acceptable by those who would like to pave the way for the return of the former owner and certain of his former colleagues.'

With no prosecutions brought against those connected to the attacks, Mr O'Brien said the company is planning to meet the Governments, north and south of the border, to agree on measures to stop these attacks and to bring the perpetrators 'and their sponsors' to justice. 'In the international investment world an impression of lawlessness is being created by these attacks which has the potential to have serious negative impact for the island as a whole and the border region in particular.

Last night's attack was much more than an attack on the Aventas Group; it was an attack on employees - on their lives and livelihoods - and on the local community.

'There should be no safe haven for the perpetrators and their sponsors. We call on the local community and community groups to publicly condemn these attacks and disassociate themselves from the perpetrators and their sponsors. Further we ask the community, in their own interests, to give whatever assistance they can, however small, to the police forces to put an end to this reckless sabotage' Mr O'Brien concluded.