We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
DEBENHAMS WORKERS STAGED protests in ten locations around the country along with a ‘virtual rally’ today ahead of the Irish branch’s liquidation hearing in the High Court tomorrow.
Protesters, adhering to social distancing guidelines, gathered outside the shuttered stores calling for government action to save their jobs.
Some 1,500 Debenhams workers in Ireland lost their jobs on the 9 April after management informed them that 11 of their stores in Ireland “are not expected to reopen” as the company was filing for liquidation.
Tomorrow, Debenhams Retail Ireland Limited is due to go to the High Court to apply for the full appointment of liquidators to the company.
The workers, some of whom have over 30 years service, being originally employed under the Roches Stores brand, are calling for partial or full retention of the Irish business.
They say the decision by management to put the company into voluntary liquidation during the covid crisis is “opportunistic”.
Jane Crowe, the Mandate shop steward for Debenhams in Dublin, argued that the stores are still profitable and could open again after the coronavirus crisis.
Crowe told TheJournal.ie that stores were “already prepacked for liquidators” before the coronavirus hit.
“They decided to close down without seeking help from the government, rather than saving some of our jobs.
We believe many of the stores are profitable, as well as the online business. The government is putting billions in to keep people employed because of Covid 19.
“There are also EU funds available to prevent redundancies. We are asking all our political representatives to ask the government to take a stake here and invest to keep the company trading.”
Gino Kenny TD / TwitterDebenhams Worker Maire Leonard explains why she and her co-workers are protesting outside Debenhams at the Square Tallaght this morning pic.twitter.com/ylFTGdvijN
— Gino Kenny (@Ginosocialist) April 29, 2020
Last week, Debenhams workers protesting outside the recently closed store on Henry Street were moved on by gardaí due to “concerns over adherence to current government instructions on non-essential journeys”.
Crowe said gardaí in Dublin were more understanding this week and allowed them to protest for 20 minutes while interviews were carried out and photos were taken.
“We were like a big family in the store so it was emotional seeing each other today, even though we couldn’t hug each other,” said Crowe who has worked in the Henry Street store for the past 24 years.
Gardaí in Cork took the names and addresses of protesters outside the Patrick’s Street store in the city earlier today.
In a statement, gardaí said a number of individuals were advised that they were in potential breach of regulations designed to protect themselves and others in the community and were asked to disperse.
“Investigations are now underway in relation to potential breaches of the regulations relating to this incident,” a garda spokesperson said.
An Garda Síochaná had adopted the 4Es approach in relation to policing during the COVID-19 crisis – engage, educate, encourage, and only as a last resort, enforce.
After today’s protests, more than 500 participants logged onto Zoom this afternoon for an e-rally in support of the workers.
‘The canaries in the coal mine’
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith accused Debenhams of using the Covid crisis as a cover for “a smash and grab on workers’ rights”.
“Many of their workers have given years and years of service and made profits for the company. The company can’t be allowed to walk away from their responsibility,” said Smith.
Just like the Cleary’s debacle, this shows again that our Government and laws do very little to protect workers’ rights- this has to change, and Debenhams is a line in the sand for all workers.
Smith says workers should not pay the price for this pandemic, adding that it is up to the government to ensure Debenhams shows respect to the workers who she describes as “canaries in the coal mine”.
Brid Smith TD / TwitterProud to stand with Debenhams workers this morning in Henry Street - “The Canaries in the coal mine” shouting out for rights for all workers @MandateTU @pb4p pic.twitter.com/5aN3YT9eq8
— Brid Smith (@bridsmithTD) April 29, 2020
Ahead of tomorrow’s hearing, Labour Senator Marie Sherlock says the complete closure of the Debenhams operation in Ireland should not be a foregone conclusion and called for the liquidators and owners to make every effort to salvage as much as is possible from the Irish operation.
“The liquidators of Debenhams must deal with each of the stores on a case by case basis; singling out those that have been consistently generating positive earnings and making every effort to renegotiate rents.”
The company had operated four stores in Dublin, two in Cork, and others in Galway, Limerick, Newbridge, Tralee and Waterford.
Debenhams in Ireland operates under a separate company, Debenhams Retail (Ireland) Ltd, following an examinership process in the Republic of Ireland in 2016. Under that process, the vast majority of the company’s 1,400 directly employed staff, some 500 concession staff and 300 cosmetic staff were to be retained.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Leave Ireland alone…….. Frack Off !
Actually, we should try and persuade more fracking companies to enter Ireland as it would be of great benefit to our economy. Anyone who disagrees is probably the type of person that campaigns against fluoride.
Not good for the communities involved or our environment. Surely not everything boils down to money.
Johnny’s just playing devil’s advocate for the reaction.
When tap water becomes flamable, we’ve gone a tad too far.
Overall, Im not completely against fracking.
However I’m happy for Ireland to sit it out for a while….. see how the sh*t hits the fan elsewhere.
Tap water is not flammable.
Fracking has been in use commercially since around 1950, that’s long enough to sit it out.
“Renee McClure also misleads viewers about the connection between natural gas development and methane in water wells. McClure’s well was sampled by the state of Colorado and it, too, showed only naturally occurring methane.”
Well spotted!
Methane occurs naturally in wells at some locations http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5085/
But don’t allow reality to spoil a bit of green propaganda
The tap water blow torch seen in Gasland has nothing to do with hydraulic fracturing. Instead, it’s related to a problem called methane migration.
Methane migration is what it sounds like – methane gas migrating from deep underground to the surface
This is the type of damage being done in Alberta, Canada
http://carbontalks.ca/images/blog/Anderson-OilSands2.jpg
Fracking is only a viable option in countries the size of Canada, but it’s madness in Ireland. The island of Ireland would fit into Alberta alone 8 times. Its much better putting the land to work for the future generations instead of destroying it for the sake of a few months worth of natural gas.
Its fantastic for the Canadian economy, but is it worth it in the long run? Aren’t we supposed to be moving away from damaging non renewable energy sources? Short visioned, quick profiteering is slowly defining Ireland.
That has nothing to do with fracking.
You should do your research if you think that. The Alberta “tar sands” is a slightly different method to this type of fracking. Both have the same environmental consequences.
Here another example of a fraking site.
http://www.southwalesawakening.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/fracking.jpg
Sunken land that would be useless for the generations to come.
I have done the research which shows that as ever green activists are guilty of exaggeration and outright lies.
“Here another example of a fraking site.”
Another? The first example was of oil sands.
Oh Aunty!
…. your not funny.
What have I said then that was lies or exaggeration? I agree with you that environmentalists often exaggerate their points. But fracking by definition is a destructive process. All I was saying was that Canada is a good example of how it can work, because of the massive uninhabited (apart from indigenous natives, but whats new?) land masses involved there. Ireland does not have that luxury. With fracking in Ireland, the pro’s far outweigh the cons. Fossil fuels are drying up so we need to stop flogging a dead horse for relatively small profits and sort out a serious, sustainable approach. (Which in my books could include nuclear power, incase I’m accused again of being a green activist)
Google in the last hour is sure doing wonders for you Aunty….. gold star
Google is for you greenies, all that I post is from research going back to 1998 on the internet and from books, scientific journals and first hand experience since c1970. Plus study at 2 Universities and seminars.
“You greenies”….. Don’t know too many of them that is ok with modern nuclear energy, but anyway. I’m living in Canada, and have visited mates working on the tarsands near Edmonton, better experience than google. Many here call the tar sands process “fracking”, although probably partially incorrectly, it’s still a destructive process of extracting fuel from within the rock. I’ve read plenty of books that are full of shite and went to college too. Neither have monolopy on truth, so don’t get carried away with yourself. Keep your fingers in your ears if you have already made your mind up on this issue.
“Pros and cons of fracking in Ireland to be examined by two-year research study”
The major Pro would be the boost to our brown envelope manufacturing industry as the backhanders fly in the scramble to pillage more of the Irish peoples birthright.
There will be quite a few sleveen public representatives ‘winning money on the horses’(tm) if fracking gets the green light.
Watch gasland it will give you the answers!
Gasland is a cartoon made by ecoloons.
“The 2010 movie Gasland brought these claims (and many others) to the public attention. Gasland painted a horrifying and emotionally charged picture of conspiracy, profiteering, environmental ruin, and the reckless wholesale poisoning of people and animals by the drilling companies. The energy industry was quick to respond to the apparent slander, even posting a web page called “Debunking Gasland” (and others) that not only denied virtually all of the movie’s factual claims, but also was heavy on ad-hominem attacks against its maker, an activist whom they describe as an avant-garde stage director with no expertise in either geology or drilling. Whom should the average person on the street believe? Unfortunately, they generally only hear from one of these sources or the other, and rarely or never get the unbiased, science-based facts.”
Gas land is a movie, you go to movies for your truth, well at least your not heading to church.
Fracking will benefit very few and has a real possibility of destroying the lives of many. The best thing to do is leave what’s under the soil where it is and let us all carry on as we are.
Fracking can contaminate ground water which poses a threat to public health so it should not be allowed no matter how much money it brings in.
It can but to date has not as the EPA in the US has shown time and time again.
In the cartoon,Mike Markham, a landowner, ignites his tap water. The film leaves the viewer with the false impression that the flaming tap water is a result of natural gas drilling. However, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which tested Markham’s water in 2008, there were “no indications of oil & gas related impacts to water well.” Instead the investigation found that the methane was “biogenic” in nature, meaning it was naturally occurring and that his water well was drilled into a natural gas pocket.
Between fracking and fraping we’re in a right mess.
What about twerking? Cork has been laid waste by this activity and we have to ask why their holinesses the bishops remain silent on this issue. The statue of Father in Patrick Street has spun around twice this week.
None of the scaremongering about fracking stands up to scrutiny. Greens don’t want you to have cheap power, they want to ration it and control how you use it by means of smart-meters. People can’t afford this green nonsense any more, we need cheap reliable energy and that is not going to come from any of the scams such as wind and solar.
That pesky sun, always out to scam people.. Providing sub standard photons :/
Farming not fracking maybe if the the farmers farmed we would not have to worry about fracking
Facebook don’t frack with Meath
I wish we would do what the Dutch do and set up anaerobic digesters on all farms throughout the country and generate power.
This would be distributed power grid.
The more small renewable sources we have throughout the country the better.
What a Joke
@turflife 4 of those sycamores mentioned the other day have 4-6 trunks which are 9″ at the base, not bad for 12 years and the 14 year old are just a tiny bit bigger ;-)
The destruction around wind farms has to be seen to be believed, the access roads have to take the largest cranes in order to maintain them, these are vehicles would be banned if they were carrying normal goods.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100232949/wind-farms-are-a-breach-of-human-rights-says-un-no-really/tumblr_lqi9anorde1qjw2is-2/
This one gives a perspective on the scale and all for so little output.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02503/wind-farm_2503696b.jpg
PS @turflife, those multi trunks are natural, the trees were not touched since starting from seed, hard to tell until I knock them but there is maybe a month of fuel there.
Auntie, empty vessels make the most noise! Are you on the side of the frackers, and trying to oppose anything that gets in your way!
Reports from the 1800’s document gas
bubbles in water wells, in streams, and in
fields after heavy rains; this evidence suggests
that migration has always existed. It
has now become a problem because of
new residential development near the
methane migration pathways. Studies by
the USGS will help clarify the nature of
methane migration.
The USGS is a more reliable source of information than a movie made by some ecoloon.
Pros- it makes money, everything else is irrelevant
i think people mis-read your comment man
if you think the housing market is rock bottom now in ireland then just wait until they start the fracking near you, your property will be worth fuk all just a packet of fags and a tooth pick, nobody is going to buy your property with the pollution and methane gas contaminating your house/s they will not pay to buy your house !! AND NEITHER WOULD I
James has the right idea. Instead of fracking the bejesus out our earth, farmers should be encourage to install anaerobic digesters. Especially since Minister for everything Coveney wants them to double beef production! Where is all the sh1te thus produced to go otherwise. This contribution to local energy production would have us manage for another few years, while all other countries rush towards self-destruction.
Old Yorkshire saying: ‘Where there’s muck, there’s energy’.
have your say