Staff of two Cork butcher shops in shock after being told their jobs were gone via text 

Staff at two butcher shops in Cork have spoken of their shock after they were informed by text that the shops were closing and their jobs were gone.

In some cases, staff of The Butcher’s Block outlets in Douglas Court and Blackpool shopping centres only learned of the closures shortly before they were due to start work at the weekend.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, called on the Butcher’s Block to meet with staff immediately, with the staff understood to have been informed that a liquidator is due to be appointed but that in the meantime the company would be unable to provide employees with statutory redundancy pay or other entitlements. 

“I got a call at 7am to say I had no work when my shift was supposed to start at 8am so I was in a bit of a panic,” one employee of the Blackpool store, Patrick O’Donoghue, told PJ Coogan on 96 FM’s Opinion Line. “We all decided to meet outside the shop to find out what was going on.

 “I would have been working there eight years on the first of December. We had a feeling it was going to happen after Christmas but we weren’t too sure. 

"We didn’t expect for it to happen five weeks to Christmas.” 

He said that the decision will not just impact employees but their families too.

“There is a lot of staff with young kids. I have a two and a four-year-old. There is another lad who works with me that has a one-year-old. There are a few in Douglas in the exact same boat as us. We don’t know where to go or what to do. There was zero notice. 

"We were literally told an hour before we started our shift that your job is gone. That’s the worst thing about it.” 

He spoke of the overwhelming feeling of uncertainty.

“We are signing on and seeing where to go from there,” he said. “It’s way too close to Christmas to be out of work- for me anyway. I spoke to everyone and they are all heartbroken. 

"They are not giving us anything basically, not even a thank you. There are lads there 12 and 20 years. The way they went about it was totally unacceptable.” 

Meanwhile, Deputy Gould, has penned a letter to the owners in response to the news.

“I have written today to the Butcher’s Block to formally request a meeting to discuss the future of their business in Cork and the impact this may have on staff,” he said. “Workers are understandably extremely anxious given the potential closure of these shops and the company has a responsibility to keep people informed. We are only one month away from Christmas in what is an extremely difficult year.”

The company, which also operates stores in Waterford, Laois and Dublin, has been approached for comment.