Online petition calls for sale of former Offaly briquette factory to be halted
An online petition which calls on Bord na Móna to stop the sale of the former Derrinlough peat briquette factory in Offaly was launched earlier today (Wednesday).
The petition, which can be seen here, has so far attracted over 100 signatures. It was started by architectural historian Emma Gilleece and Dr Patrick Bresnihan, a lecturer in Geography at Maynooth University.
The pair collaborated on an opinion article, published by The Journal website earlier today, which argued that the former factory "should be preserved, not sold".
"Last week we were contacted by Adrian Kane of SIPTU who was alerted to the sale of the factory," Ms Gilleece told the Offaly Independent.
"On Friday we sent a letter outlining our concerns and reasons for stopping the sale, which was signed by 50 academics, architectural historians and NGOs.
"We are hoping that with this media coverage and support we have already received in a short space of time that Bord na Móna will engage with us."
The briquette factory, which was built in the late 1950s and employed 62 people up to the time of its closure this year this year, was recently advertised on behalf of Bord na Móna for sale or rental.
The online petition calls for the sale to be halted, on the grounds of the site's "social and architectural significance" as the last briquette factory in Ireland.
An email address for the campaign has also been set up: savederrinloughfactory@gmail.com