Implications of Quinn Group job losses really hit home
The most striking thing is the fearfulness. It is palpable. The threat to the Quinn Group was the subject of every conversation in the region at the weekend.
The group's tentacles spread far and wide in the region and in parts of Cavan, Fermanagh, North Longford, Monaghan, and North Meath - everyone knows someone who works for the Quinn Group. As a result, the Financial Regulator's move to have provisional administrators appointed to Quinn Direct has shocked the entire region.
In Granard, the Quinn Group has a number of employees in the Lite Pac facility and many local people are wondering how the events of the past week will impact this small wing of the Quinn empire. In Cavan and Fermanagh thousands of people are employed across the Quinn Group - in Quinn Direct, Quinn Glass, Quinn Cement and the Slieve Russell Hotel. The worst case scenario doesn't bear thinking about.
Over the past week, the troops have been mobilised and rallies took place yesterday in Cavan and Dublin. Banners have sprung up all over Co Fermanagh and shops and businesses in Cavan have posters advertising the rallies in every window. The first ever Belturbet Easter Parade held on Sunday featured a float bearing the words: 'Sean Quinn, Jobs in our Time'.
The green lorry promoting Sean Quinn Cement in Derrylin in the same parade is said to be the first truck that Quinn ever bought. Towns like Belturbet, Ballyconnell, Derrylin, Lisnaskea, and even Cavan would simply be devastated if anything happened the Quinn Group. Pubs in Belturbet and Ballyconnell don't bother organising big events the week before payday in Quinn's. There's no point – no-one will have any money. Quinn is the only major employer in the locality.
Reassurances that Quinn Direct is hugely profitable carry little weight locally. The company is making a profit of p1 million euro a day, according to Sean Quinn. Obviously it is very attractive to potential buyers in the insurance market. If the company was sold, what loyalty would the new owner have to Cavan and Fermanagh?
What loyalty would they have to Ireland? This is where the fear starts to creep in. There is a slow realisation that the 'quick fix' to this situation could be the sale of Quinn Direct – in fact, this would be the nuclear option for this region.
Last week local politicians and business leaders took to the airwaves in defence of Sean Quinn and his predicament but in truth, these sentiments are out of touch with the general consensus locally. On the ground, there is a quiet acceptance that while the Quinn Group is responsible for this mess, the most important thing is that the company stays open for business in the region. For most people, it's not about Sean Quinn, it's about the jobs.
With those jobs in mind, there has been widespread shock at how rapidly the doors of Government have closed to the Quinn Group. Sean Quinn told RTE last week that Ministers would not return his calls earlier in the week. The Quinn Group then wrote to all the Ministers. This was a questionable decision given the office of the Financial Regulator is an independent body. In the week when the NAMA bombshell truly hit home, the Government is obviously reluctant to be seen preventing the Regulator from going about his business.
That said, reasonably or unreasonably, there is genuine anger in Cavan that the Government has not done more in the past week to support Quinn workers. Northern politicians met with Quinn staff last week before any meetings had taken place with Southern politicians. Taoiseach Brian Cowen confirmed at the weekend that he had spoken to Sean Quinn last Thursday night and had referred him to Enterprise Ireland.
There is a growing sense locally that the Government would allow the sacrifice of Quinn jobs at the altar of the Financial Regulator in order to prove to 'the markets' that light-touch regulation is now a thing of the past. This is where the fear really hits home. How big a sacrifice is the Government willing to make?
Next week's court case is being billed as a celebrity death match between the two Goliaths – Sean Quinn and the Financial Regulator. Both parties need to win and the impending court case is being treated as the hottest ticket in town by commentators. However for thousands of people, this is not just some idle sideshow – their jobs, way of life and even their communities are under threat. It's little wonder they are fearful.
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Weather for Longford, Ireland
Thursday 17 May 2012
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