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Irish Steel
Irish Steel Limited (Irish: Cruach na hÉireann Teoranta), later known as Irish Ispat Limited, was an Irish semi-state company which was involved in steel production primarily from a plant on Haulbowline island in Cork Harbour. Originally founded in 1939, the company and its assets were sold to Ispat International (later known as Mittal Steel Company) (for IR£1) in 1996. The company and its plant closed down in 2001.
Dumping of production materials, including toxic waste, resulted in significant contamination of the Irish Steel plant site, and increased the size of Haulbowline island by 9 hectares (22 acres). Campaigners, including Erin Brockovich, pushed for action by the state, and €61m was allocated to clean-up the site and to redevelop it as a park. The cleanup and redevelopment project lasted upwards of a decade; from 2011 to 2021.
Irish Steel was originally formed as a privately owned firm in 1939, and commenced operations from a steel plant on Haulbowline island, near Cobh in Cork Harbour. This company went into receivership in the 1940s, and in 1947 the then Minister for Industry and Commerce, Seán Lemass, established a state-financed company to acquire its assets and "secure 240 jobs".
In 1960, the state's involvement was expanded by the Irish Steel Holdings Limited Act 1960, in what Jack Lynch (by then Minister for Industry and Commerce) described as addressing a "gap which would otherwise exist in [Ireland's] industrial capacity". By the late 1960s, Irish Steel was producing approximately one-third of steel used by Irish industry. At its peak, in 1971, the company employed approximately 1,200 people and had increased production to run 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. In 1981, responsibility for Irish Steel was transferred from the Minister for Industry and Commerce to the Minister for Energy.
In 1972, Edward A. Coleman (the general manager of Irish Steel and a member of a delegation from the Confederation of Irish Industry travelling for discussions with EEC officials in Brussels), was among those killed in the Staines air disaster.
A fall in steel prices in Europe during the 1980s led to layoffs at Irish Steel, and the work-force was progressively reduced from 650. The assets of the company were sold to Irish Ispat (a subsidiary of Ispat International), for IR£1, in 1996. Under the terms of the sale agreement, the Haulbowline plant was operated under the condition that "£30 million would be invested in the plant and its 330 jobs would be secured" for at least five years. Shortly after this term ended in 2001, the plant was closed and 450 jobs were lost.
According to a 2005 article in The Irish Times, "Irish Ispat's tenure at Haulbowline was marked by controversy, with the firm failing to invest" as expected under the negotiated takeover agreement. There were several worker deaths between 1999 and 2001, including that of a lab technician who died in a fire. According to an inquest hearing, the plant's administrative block had no sprinklers, fire escapes or fire alarms, and that the "company's fire engine failed to start because of a flat battery". According to other reports, the plant's safety manager had been refused budget for improved fire-safety training.
The plant was closed, with limited notice, by Ispat International in 2001. At the time of closure, the company had debts of more than €57m. Reports of land and asset sales, prior to closure, led to some accusations of "asset-stripping" by the parent company. One such asset disposal, in the months prior to closure, involved the sale of a 30-acre site (for an undisclosed sum) to build a hazardous waste incinerator to the "fury of local residents". As of 2002, creditors were still owed over €20m, including over €7m due to former-workers for statutory redundancy and other payments.
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Irish Steel
Irish Steel Limited (Irish: Cruach na hÉireann Teoranta), later known as Irish Ispat Limited, was an Irish semi-state company which was involved in steel production primarily from a plant on Haulbowline island in Cork Harbour. Originally founded in 1939, the company and its assets were sold to Ispat International (later known as Mittal Steel Company) (for IR£1) in 1996. The company and its plant closed down in 2001.
Dumping of production materials, including toxic waste, resulted in significant contamination of the Irish Steel plant site, and increased the size of Haulbowline island by 9 hectares (22 acres). Campaigners, including Erin Brockovich, pushed for action by the state, and €61m was allocated to clean-up the site and to redevelop it as a park. The cleanup and redevelopment project lasted upwards of a decade; from 2011 to 2021.
Irish Steel was originally formed as a privately owned firm in 1939, and commenced operations from a steel plant on Haulbowline island, near Cobh in Cork Harbour. This company went into receivership in the 1940s, and in 1947 the then Minister for Industry and Commerce, Seán Lemass, established a state-financed company to acquire its assets and "secure 240 jobs".
In 1960, the state's involvement was expanded by the Irish Steel Holdings Limited Act 1960, in what Jack Lynch (by then Minister for Industry and Commerce) described as addressing a "gap which would otherwise exist in [Ireland's] industrial capacity". By the late 1960s, Irish Steel was producing approximately one-third of steel used by Irish industry. At its peak, in 1971, the company employed approximately 1,200 people and had increased production to run 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. In 1981, responsibility for Irish Steel was transferred from the Minister for Industry and Commerce to the Minister for Energy.
In 1972, Edward A. Coleman (the general manager of Irish Steel and a member of a delegation from the Confederation of Irish Industry travelling for discussions with EEC officials in Brussels), was among those killed in the Staines air disaster.
A fall in steel prices in Europe during the 1980s led to layoffs at Irish Steel, and the work-force was progressively reduced from 650. The assets of the company were sold to Irish Ispat (a subsidiary of Ispat International), for IR£1, in 1996. Under the terms of the sale agreement, the Haulbowline plant was operated under the condition that "£30 million would be invested in the plant and its 330 jobs would be secured" for at least five years. Shortly after this term ended in 2001, the plant was closed and 450 jobs were lost.
According to a 2005 article in The Irish Times, "Irish Ispat's tenure at Haulbowline was marked by controversy, with the firm failing to invest" as expected under the negotiated takeover agreement. There were several worker deaths between 1999 and 2001, including that of a lab technician who died in a fire. According to an inquest hearing, the plant's administrative block had no sprinklers, fire escapes or fire alarms, and that the "company's fire engine failed to start because of a flat battery". According to other reports, the plant's safety manager had been refused budget for improved fire-safety training.
The plant was closed, with limited notice, by Ispat International in 2001. At the time of closure, the company had debts of more than €57m. Reports of land and asset sales, prior to closure, led to some accusations of "asset-stripping" by the parent company. One such asset disposal, in the months prior to closure, involved the sale of a 30-acre site (for an undisclosed sum) to build a hazardous waste incinerator to the "fury of local residents". As of 2002, creditors were still owed over €20m, including over €7m due to former-workers for statutory redundancy and other payments.