SIPTU members staged a second day of protests
SIPTU members employed by the Shannon Group staged a second day of protest on Thursday last due to the decision by the company to reduce opening hours at the Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, county Clare.
The protest at Bunratty was also in response to the lack of progress on a promised multi-million euro investment package to facilitate the transfer of Shannon Heritage tourism sites to Clare County Council.
In recent weeks, senior management of Clare County Council informed SIPTU members and other stakeholders that no funds had been made available by the Government to facilitate the transfer.
Instead, they have been advised by Shannon Group that Bunratty Castle & Folk Park will cease to operate on a 7 day per week basis from January 8. The public will only be able to access the sites on a 4-day per week basis from the January 12 until Wednesday March 1, 2023.
SIPTU Organiser, Rachel Keane, said: “Our members’ fears have been realised. In March 2020, we alerted local representatives that plans to close the Shannon Heritage sites due to Covid-19 will be used a smoke screen and will result in the site being mothballed and its access being restricted for three months of the year.
“No rationale has been given for this latest decision, as the sites have outperformed Shannon Groups’ projections in terms of visitor numbers for 2022. If the sites had transferred to Clare County Council, as promised, we are confident that this site would be open 7 days as week during these months as it did pre-Covid. Other sites in Limerick and Dublin, including King John’s Castle, Malahide Castle and Newbridge House and Gardens, which successfully transferred from Shannon Heritage, are fully open and trading.
“Our members have gone above and beyond to campaign to save these heritage sites, secure jobs and ensure their transfer to Clare County Council. The continued failure of the Government departments to announce the long awaiting multimillion-euro funding required to facilitate the transfer needs to be investigated fully.”
Dolores Broderick, SIPTU Shop Steward said: “It is widely known that workers fled the tourism and hospitality sector due to the Covid-19 crisis. Our members have been loyal and dedicated to their employer and to these heritage sites but are now facing a precarious and uncertain future.”
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