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SR Technic unions come out of meeting with Tanaiste ‘with a little more hope’ than they went in

Date Released: 19 Feb 2009

SIPTU Branch Organiser Pat Ward said the SR Technics delegation had come out of its meeting with the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan this evening “with a little more hope than we went in”. He also acknowledged the strong support they had received from the Labour leader Eamon Gilmore and Sinn Fein TDs at meetings with delegations from both parties during the day.

“We made the Tánaiste acutely aware of the situation at Dublin airport and the terrible long term consequences that the closure of SR Technics would have for the Irish aviation industry. She told us she was satisfied that SR Technics had no intention of continuing its operations in Ireland but there were a number of other companies that had expressed an interest in  the plant at Dublin airport. “There were very senior representatives of the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and FÁS at the meeting and they said they were actively engaged in the search for replacement employers.

“We impressed on the Minister the urgency of the situation and the need to act quickly if the skill base was not to be lost to Ireland. We also expressed our concern that vital equipment was not removed from the plant or sold off by SR Technics. We came out of the meeting with a little more hope than we went in and we made it abundantly clear that we were not going to throw in the towel but fight every step of the way when it came to preserving jobs.

“We also met with the Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore and its spokesperson on Transport Tommy Broughan. Mr. Gilmore had raised questions on our behalf in the Dail. Earlier we met with Caoimhghin O Caoláin, Mary Lou McDonald and Arthur Morgan of Sinn Fein and expressed our sincere appreciation of all their efforts on our behalf.

“We will be meeting with SR Technics management tomorrow as part of the continuing consultation process over the proposed closure.”