Kingscourt brick back in business

Seamus Enright

Almost three years to the day after 29 workers at the Kingscourt Brick manufacturing facility were left out in the cold on Christmas week with news that the plant was closing, there is activity on site again, fuelling hopes of a recommencement of production in 2015.
The Anglo-Celt has learned in recent weeks that the furnace, along with other machines at the plant, are being recommissioned, while clay sampling from the local Gypsum Industries mine at Drumgossat has also been completed and certified.
Furthermore, according to local sources, owners Lagan Brick, which is based in Kildare, a subsidiary of the Lagan Group Holdings in Belfast, have placed an order for a stainless steel chimney pipe, due for delivery from the UK sometime in the new year.
Sources suggest that, as a result of the work taking place on site, there may be an announcement early in the New Year.
Lagan Group, at the time of going to press, were unavailable for comment but in recent weeks the company has landed contracts for a number of major infrastructure projects both in Ireland and across the Irish Sea.
Earlier this month, the company was awarded part of a joint £100m contract to carry out construction of the Green Port Hull site on Alexandra Dock, and last month the £17m runway upgrade at Cambridge International Airport.
Movement at the east Cavan site at Drumgill comes soon after representations were made to regional industry chiefs at a meeting of Cavan County Council.
At that meeting in November, Breda O’Toole, head of regional business development at the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and head of Local Enterprise Office, Vincent Reynolds, were pressed on the subject of the future of Kingscourt Brick by local Fianna Fáil councillor Clifford Kelly.
He asked both visitors to the chamber to leave no stone unturned in supporting any attempt to secure a new financial backer for the plant.
With over 100 years of brick manufacturing history in the town, Cllr Kelly said it would be “magnificent” if a potential buyer were found, and sweeter still if the product could be used to build the long-awaited Kingscourt secondary school.
Those workers, he added, had engaged in a protracted protest over redundancy payments with Lagan. It saw an around-the-clock protest take place outside the Kingscourt premises. Those former employees are still living in the town and are “eager to work”, Cllr Kelly told the chamber.
Lasting 273 days, the protest also saw workers take up pickets outside offices in Kinnegad and Belfast. Some 25 former Kingscourt Brick employees accepted a deal on redundancy payments from Lagan back in September, 2013.
At the time, Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin told the Celt: “Whatever the future holds for the closed Lagan Brick plant at Kingscourt, I would hope that the former workforce would be given most favourable consideration in the event that this plant reopens under whatever management.”
Meanwhile, O’Reilly Bros who operate the Gypsum Mines have been inundated with applications for jobs since first advertising it was seeking workers for 22 positions in The Anglo-Celt earlier this month.
The O’Reilly Concrete Group in Kingscourt advertised to fill a range of positions including general operatives, drivers, engineering and technical staff, and to date have received almost 100 applications for the posts.