SIPTU MEMBERS EMPLOYED at the Nuremore Hotel and Country Club in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan have formally applied to appoint a liquidator to the company over what the union called a “sham lay off situation”.
The application is listed to be heard in the High Court on 27 March.
It comes after staff at the hotel staged a sit-in protest in December due to wages allegedly not being paid on time.
Staff said the issue had been “going on for months and months” but hotel management said this was due to an issue outside of its control.
The hotel was acquired in February 2020 by the Kylin Prime Group, an investment firm founded by Chinese entrepreneur Kai Dai.
Dai also founded Huawen Foundation, a cash-for-visa firm which offered investors an opportunity to avail of Irish residency under a government scheme called the immigrant investment programme.
According to Siptu, the hotel management said that it closed the hotel before Christmas for refurbishment purposes but no such work has commenced. Siptu also said employees have had no contact from their employer since 1 January.
The union also claimed that Dai has “not been contactable”.
The hotel told The Journal late last year that “temporary lay offs” would be required due to refurbishment of the hotel.
However, staff and Sinn Féin TD from Monaghan Matt Carthy said that no renovation works had taken place.
Earlier this month, union workers voted to refer all their outstanding issues with their employer to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
Today, Siptu sector organiser John Regan said the union’s members have “suffered more than 70 days of a sham layoff situation during which it has become abundantly clear that their place of work will not be opening again under its current management”.
“The liquidator will be able to arrange for monies owed to our members to be paid and hopefully facilitate the hotel reopening under a new owner,” Regan said.
He said it had also come to the union’s attention that a sale by the local Revenue Sheriff of some of the facility’s moveable assets, associated with its golf course and leisure centre, is also scheduled to commence.
“This situation necessitates a speedy resolution to the wider issues related to this company,” he added.
“Our members hope that this process will be the beginning of the end of the nightmare for them and their families, as well as the wider community, which has surrounded the slow decline of this hotel over the last few months.
“It is hoped that the workers will soon have a financial resolution to the issues of non-payment of wages and other entitlements which began last year. It may also be hoped that the hotel, leisure centre and golf course can shortly once again become a provider of quality jobs and a valuable tourism resource for the local community.”
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