The sign on the outside of the front gate of Tara Mines states that it is a 24-hour, seven-day-a week operation.
The miners here are a different breed. They work 10½-hour shifts between 50 and 900 metres underground, extracting the ore from what is the largest zinc mine of its kind in Europe.
Zinc was found by chance in the early 1970s locally and Tara Mines, which is located three kilometres from Navan in Co Meath, opened in 1977. Mining is a volatile business at the best of times, dependent on global demand and supply and subject to extreme price fluctuations. Mines also run out. Yet, only once before, did Tara Mines shut for a prolonged period. That was in 2001 when the price of zinc plummeted and the mine shut for three months.
At that time, the closure was well flagged, but Tuesday’ night’s announcement came as a shock to workers. Many found that they would be made temporarily redundant by Tara’s Swedish owners Boliden from an announcement on the RTÉ Nine O’Clock News.
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“The closure was a lot better communicated the last time. There was a build-up. Siptu officers were brought in but there was no build up this time,” said Gerry Devins who has worked in Tara Mines for the last 25 years. “Announcing it to the media before announcing it to the workforce is not acceptable.”
Boliden has blamed the falling price of zinc and rising energy costs for the shock announcement. Workers thought their futures were secured when Boliden discovered new deposits in 2017. Tara Mines made a profit of €19.8 million in 2021 after a €29 million loss in the Covid-19 hit year of 2020.
Workers had been engaging with the company for six months in relation to cost-cutting measures, but the announcement that the mine would go into “care and maintenance”, a euphemism for a temporary and indefinite closure, was a bolt from the blue.
“We like our jobs. It’s hard work, but we don’t mind doing it. We want to keep this open,” said Michael Fitzsimons, who is a Siptu shop steward. “The company showed very little respect for us with this announcement.” He stressed, though, that Boliden had been a very good employer to this date.
“It’s a different guy who goes mining. The communication by the company has been bad,” said Pat Conlon. There are few working mines left in Ireland and none of the size of the Tara site. The options for miners other than Tara are limited.
A quarry company from the southeast arrived on site agreeing to take apprentices or maintenance staff if the worst came to the worst. Mr Conlon was non-committal. “There is a lot left in this game yet,” he said. Negotiations are ongoing between union representatives and management.
It is not just the 650 people that the mine employs that are affected by the announcement. Some estimate that the same number of people again are employed indirectly as a result of Tara Mines.
The operation is only 500 metres from a major retail park with well-known brands including Homebase, TK Maxx, DID Electrical and Halfords. There is also an Applegreen complex nearby.
“I have a friend over there who works in the mines. I spoke to him two weeks ago and he never saw it coming. We have a lot of staff from the mine who come here for their breakfasts and lunch,” one Applegreen employee said.
Meath County Council’s new chairman Cllr Tommy Reilly was blindsided by the announcement which came on his first day in the job.
It’s a “disaster”, he said, coming at a time when the children of many staff in the mine are completing their exams and thinking of going to college next year, while families have holidays booked.
“How long is temporary? How long is a piece of string? I know somebody who got a mortgage there in the last two to three weeks. They won’t be getting mortgages now,” he said. “This company has made millions out of Navan in the last 20 years.”
He believes the announcement may be a strategy by Boliden to extract financial concessions out of the Government to offset the company’s energy bill.
