Fears mounting for Farah jobs in Kiltimagh

By Michael Commins

The Farah Company, which makes trousers at its Mayo and Galway plants, has its headquarters in the West Texas town of El Paso. Most of its operations are located in nearby Mexico. The Company has been in Ireland for fifteen years and employed between 300 and 400 people at its plants in Ballyhaunis, Galway, and Kiltimagh. The Ballyhaunis plant closed during 1996. Mr. Pat Powell of SIPTU in Galway said on Monday that they were seeking a meeting with the Company and were hoping that it could be arranged sometime during this week.

"The Union and staff are worried about the future of the Irish operations. There has been no definite statement from the Farah Company in relation to their intentions. It would be fair to say that we are pretty concerned at this stage about the overall situation," said Mr. Powell.

When production was halted last weekend, in the region of 150 workers were laid off indefinitely. Mr. Noel Kilfeather of SIPTU in Mayo said that Farah had currently ceased production at its plants in Ireland and that the company had told them they were not in a position to give a start-up date again. An effort was being made to source a contractor to supply the relevant material to enable this to take place.

This was the second time that fire engulfed the Galway plant. The Kiltimagh factory depends on getting its supply from Galway as both are "tied" together. The cutting is done in Galway and the material is sent to Kiltimagh for sewing and finishing before being returned to Galway for the proprietary finishing. The Farah Company has already diverted some of its production to Morocco where it established operations some years ago and where labour costs are substantially cheaper than in Ireland.

Kiltimagh has been rocked by the decision of Farah Ireland to lay off virtually the entire work-force. Workers were fearing the worst throughout the week and were informed of the decision on Friday evening.

Farah has been the number one employer in Kiltimagh over the last number of years. The other two main employers in the area are Genfitt and Macks Bakery. Business people and locals alike are hoping that this is a temporary closedown and that some good news may yet filter through. However, the outlook in Kiltimagh over the last few days has been gloomy to say the least.