Workers at Aughinish Alumina to be consulted following review, says McEntee

Vivienne Clarke

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said there will be engagement with workers at Aughinish Alumina about its future, but that first, the details had to be established on whether Aughinish Alumina products are ending up in Russian military equipment.

A report from the Department of Enterprise on such details is due to be published shortly, the Minister told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“I'm very conscious that we're talking about this a lot and behind all of this there are people who have jobs and obviously who are concerned about their own livelihoods and what's happening here and at the same time then we're obviously talking about making sure Ireland is not in any way contributing to what is an absolutely brutal war that's been going on for many years.

“So how do we make sure that we have all of the facts? How do we make sure that once we have those facts we're engaging with the Commission but also engaging with workers, the company and people on the ground as well. So the first steps are to establish all of the facts and we will very soon have the details and the outcome of reviews that's being done.”

When asked about a suggestion by Mayor of Limerick John Moran, that a forum be established by his office where information could be shared with the workers, McEntee said “that's not for me to agree, but I have no doubt that if there is to be anything happening that there will be engagement with people on the ground.

“But I do have to say we need to take a step back here. We have to establish the facts and then we have to engage further with the Commission but of course we'd engage with workers if anything were to change, if anything were to be suggested.

“At the moment what I'm working on here in Brussels and what I've been working on over the weekend is the current package of sanctions against Russia, which is quite significant, which targets specific individuals, which targets LNG plants, which targets transportation of fuel and other things, and we are absolutely focused and determined on getting that across the line because we know sanctions are working. Ireland has always advocated for sanctions.

“We've always advocated to put pressure on Russia, and that is not going to change.”