*Photograph: Joe Buckley
ICELAND’s Shannon store was among the final outlets of the discount retailer to close its doors.
Workers received as little as fiteen minutes notice when the stores in Shannon, Limerick, Fingal, Portlaoise and Blanchardstown closed less than a fortnight ago.
Metron Stores Ltd, the parent company of Iceland has entered liquidation.
Located in the Shannon Town Centre, shutters have been pulled on the Iceland store since September 7th with a printed notice reading, “Sorry for any inconvenience caused. We would like to thank everyone for their continued support throughout the years”.
28 jobs were created when Iceland opened the 8,700 square foot Shannon store in December 2017
In a statement, the Independent Workers’ Union said, “With the company now in liquidation, it has absconded all responsibility towards its workers, and has left the state-appointed liquidator to clear up the mess”.
“Throughout this process, our members have been entirely disregarded and disrespected by the company. Wages are still unpaid, annual leave and sick pay is still owed, and redundancies are only now being processed following weeks of bogus lay-off”.
The union said it will continue to engage with the liquidator to ensure all its members are paid in full.
The future of the company’s Irish stores has been rooted in uncertainty in recent months, with an examiner appointed in June to rescue the Ireland franchise’s stores from going under. The closures mark the end of attempts to save the company. There had been discussions with an unrevealed investor, believed to be Tesco Ireland.
Leading up to the closure, it emerged that the proposed investor had pulled out.
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) and Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) have both held meetings with the Shannon workers.
