History
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.[7][8] This company went into receivership in the 1940s,[8] 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".[9][10]
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".[10] By the late 1960s, Irish Steel was producing approximately one-third of steel used by Irish industry.[11] 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.[9] In 1981, responsibility for Irish Steel was transferred from the Minister for Industry and Commerce to the Minister for Energy.[12]
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.[13][14]
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.[9] The assets of the company were sold to Irish Ispat (a subsidiary of Ispat International), for IR£1, in 1996.[15] 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.[9] Shortly after this term ended in 2001, the plant was closed and 450 jobs were lost.[16]
