The Irish Fertiliser Industry's plant in Arklow has closed this evening, the first high profile commercial victim of the deadlocked dispute between Iarnród Éireann and the Irish Locomotive Drivers association. 175 workers have been laid off, with an assurance that the factory will re-open once ammonia trains from Cork resume. The plant has not been receiving supplies of ammonia by rail from Cork because of the refusal of SIPTU and NBRU drivers to do work normally done by ILDA members.
Talks are taking place in Cork in efforts to resolve the plant's transport problems, but the company says that it is not optimistic about a resolution. Earlier efforts to resolve the problem failed. Three-quarters of the 200 staff are SIPTU members. The Tánaiste has said that it is most unfortunate that these people who are not involved in the dispute should find themselves penalised in this way. Mary Harney called on all sides in the dispute to reach a solution as quickly as possible.
As the plant closes, Wicklow County Council will attempt to meet with the representatives of the three unions involved as well as the management of Iarnród Éireann over the weekend. Six councillors will be available round the clock to try to put together an emergency arrangement to transport ammonia supplies from Cork to Arklow. They hope to get the train drivers involved to agree to a voluntary roster to take the ammonia train to IFI.
In the meantime, the company is carrying out tests with ultrasound equipment on a pipeline, which was used in the eighties to carry the ammonia into the plant from a ship in the harbour. If the pipeline is intact, they will consider bringing supplies from Cork by boat.
