Greenore, Ireland: 1952-1959, part 5 ....

Continuing with details about the purchases of property at Greenore by Weatherwell Ltd., as we reported in part 4: "The aim was to begin work on the site early in the Summer of 1955. That did not happen." Even that date was one year later than previously announced in the Irish press. Here is a reminder as recalled by 'The Argus' in 2014 ....

If Weatherwell Ltd at Clodalkin near Dublin, with its link to a quarry at Kingscourt were all set to go ahead with their plans for a new factory at Greenore, what went wrong? Why didn't this happen? The answer is tied to what did happen almost ten years later in 1964, and later highlighted by the arrival of the mv Fredericia and mv Mi Amigo at Greenore.

Clearly the plans of Weatherwell Ltd under the management of Aodogán O'Rahilly were not going according to plan, but in 1957 Aodogán O'Rahilly did not want to specify what had gone wrong. Whatever it was, Weatherwell Ltd was now approximately three years behind schedule in its announced Business Plan.

Nothing was happening at Greenore, and so during the following year of 1958, the question of the government loan guarantee which had been given to Weatherwell Ltd to make all of these purchases towards creating a new factory that would employ local Irish taxpayers, became an issue for the Dáil Éireann to address.

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This government-backed loan not only helped to make possible the purchase of various properties at Greenore, but the one at Kingscourt as well. But on top of that, Weatherwell Ltd also needed working capital to put this Business Plan into operation.

Weatherwall Ltd was cash-starved!

This issue is key to understanding the foundation of what we will reveal tomorrow in part 6 when we come to the year 1959, and the beginning of change at Greenore ....