This article is from page 4 of the 2011-12-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
EAST Clare is reeling from the shock announcement that Finsa Forest Products, the area’s main employer for over 50 years, is to close its doors, with the last remaining employees at the chipboard factory in Scariff being laid off before Christmas. The last remaining 20 jobs left at the landmark industrial plant are to go, as the factory that has been part and parcel of East Clare life since the late 1950s finally shuts its doors . The closure has been described as a hammer-blow to the region, with Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes, leading the criticism of a decision that he has labelled as “a disaster for the region that what was once East Clare’s biggest employer is now gone. For the people who face losing their jobs before Christmas, it is very hard, but it is also hard for the entire region because it shows up that East Clare is now an unemployment blackspot,” added Mayor Hayes. The closure of what was once Scariff’s flagship employer comes less than a year after the most recent round of cutbacks at the factory saw 52 people laid off in early January. As recently as 2009, there were 160 people employed at the plant, while at peak production it had 300 workers and was responsible directly for another 200 jobs. The development of the chipboard factory had its genesis at the inaugural meeting of the Scariff Development Association in 1957 when Nenagh-based industrialist Jeremiah O’Driscoll revealed that German industrial firm Aicher Chipboard wanted to expand into Ireland. A site in Scariff was subsequently selected and thanks to a government grant of £186,000 and a local contribution of £40,000, the factory costing £486,000 was built. The first sod on the factory was turned 53 years ago while Chipboard Ltd, Scariff went into full production on December 17, 1959 – 52 years ago this coming Saturday.