PRINTING STAFF at the country’s oldest provincial newspaper are to lose their jobs just days before Christmas.
Johnston Press, owner of the Limerick Leader and Limerick Chronicle newspapers, has announced a review of its printing operations in Limerick, which will result in the loss of 29 jobs at its printing press on Dock Road in the city.
Mayor of Limerick Cllr Maria Byrne said the closure of the local printing press marked the end of an era for Limerick, where the Limerick Leader has been printed for over 200 years.
A number of other titles owned by Johnston Press are also printed at the Dock Road printing facility.
They include the Tipperary Star, the Clonmel Nationalist, the Kilkenny People and the Offaly Express.
It is not yet known where the titles will be printed. However, there is some speculation that Johnston Press may use a printing facility in Kells before transferring the operations entirely to Northern Ireland, where the publisher has printing presses in Portadown, Co Armagh, and in Derry.
In a statement, David Crow, divisional managing director of print for Johnston Press, said “unprecedented reductions” in printing requirements across the industry had resulted in the company having to review its operations in Limerick.
Brendan Byrne, regional director of the Unite trade union, said workers had co-operated with management in cutbacks and pay freezes in recent months and he called for improved redundancy packages. “The members over the last year have taken not only pay cuts but a pay freeze . . . we are devastated by the news,” he said.