‘It was very emotional’

A former Debenhams employee has described being brought close to tears by how gardaí treated protesters in Dublin recently and warned that the same thing could happen in Cork.

Valerie Conlon, who has been a leading voice on the Cork picket line, said morale is low now amongst former staff following the “heart breaking” scenes that unfolded on Henry Street in the capital two weeks ago.

“It was awful to see, to be out for a year on pickets and to just be lifted up like that. I couldn't believe it.

“It was very emotional to see people that we would have met in Dublin being treated that way. My heart was in my mouth and at one stage I was nearly crying.”

On 22 April, gardaí forcefully removed a number of peaceful protesters from the former Debenhams store on Henry Street in Dublin. One video showed a woman being dragged out of the store by gardaí while picketers and supporters shouted for her to be released.

The following day, similar scenes were witnessed in Tralee when gardaí forcibly cleared a peaceful protest to give KPMG access to the former Debenhams store at Manor West.

Ms Conlon said she knew the gardaí were just doing their job but insisted they could have gone about it in a less forceful way.

Recently liquidators KPMG were granted High Court injunctions enabling them to physically prevent ex-employees and supporters from interfering with any attempt to remove stock from former Debenhams sites around the country.

With Covid-19 restrictions easing, protestors in Cork fear KPMG will soon attempt to remove stock from former Debenhams sites in Mahon Point and on St Patrick’s Street.

However, Ms Conlon said she believes stock inside the Cork sites has yet to be packed up or made ready for removal.

“It can happen to us. But as far as we know, our stock isn’t packed yet, so at least we have that advantage. If packers go in, then we know the stock will be next to go,” she said.

In January, 91 per cent of former staff voted against an offer of a €3 million Government-backed training fund made by Labour Court Chairman Kevin Foley, with staff standing firm in their demands for nothing short of cash payments.

A second ballot on how the €3 million should be shared out is expected soon.

Today (Thursday) marks 392 days since former staff first took to the picket lines outside Debenhams stores around the country demanding fair redundancy payment after all 11 Irish stores suddenly closed.

MS Conlon said a number of former employees have now secured new jobs but are still manning the pickets on their days off.

“Our pickets probably aren’t as strong as they were, but we still have our pickets going,” she told the paper.