A court has ordered that a South African electrician sacked from an ESB power line project in Co Mayo last month be reinstated.
Francois Visagie (43) is one of 21 South Africans who were recruited by the British-based Alfred McAlpine Utility Services company to upgrade line networks for the ESB in the West.
But the men suddenly found themselves out of work last month when they were told that they were 'not up to standard'.
Mr Visagie applied at Galway Circuit Court this afternoon for an injunction requiring Alfred McAlpine Utility Services Ltd and Alfred McAlpine Utilities (South) Ltd to permit him to perform his contract as a linesman.
He also sought to restrain both companies from appointing anyone else to his position.
In addition, Mr Visagie aplied for an order directing the defendant companies to pay him his full salary and accommodation from last month.
In pleadings before Judge Harvey Kenny, Mr Visagie said that the defendants had now purported to terminate the contracts of all the South African workers and that steps had been taken to recruit local workers and train them for the jobs previously held by the South Africans.
Judge Kenny granted an injunction to Mr Visagie in all of the terms sought and set the matter for a full hearing at Clifden Circuit Court later this month.
