Clerys: Pauline Konopka
"I found it very humiliating and the whole experience quite shocking." Pauline Konopka.
At 6.00pm on Friday 12 June 2015, employees of Clerys department store in Dublin were told that the business was closing. They were given an hour to gather personal belongings and were then escorted to the exit by hired security personnel.
Clerys—dating back 162 years and owned since 2012 by Gordon Brothers Group, an American venture capital company—had been secretly sold in the dead of night. The business was split into retail and property sections prior to the deal going through. The retail section was sold for €1 and duly declared bankrupt, thus denying the employees and others of their rightful dues. The Clerys building was then sold separately.
Gordon Brothers Group walked away with a handsome profit from the property transaction and instantly washed their hands of all responsibility for their former employees. Those employees—some of whom had spent a lifetime in Clerys—lost all of their accumulated redundancy entitlements and were eventually paid minimum statutory redundancy by the Irish government.
The Clerys building was bought by Natrium Ltd. (a consortium consisting of D2 Private, controlled by property developer Deirdre Foley, with John Skelly and Ronan Daly) and Cheyne Capital, London. Both companies have steadfastly refused to meet the former Clerys employees or government representatives.
The former Clerys employees are now campaigning for a change in the law that will protect others who may find themselves in a similar situation.
Justice for Clerys Workers: www.facebook.com/justiceforclerysworkers
This portrait was taken as part of the Certificate in Photography and Digital Imaging evening course at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin.
Lens: Pentax SMC 75mm
Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 800.
Clerys: Pauline Konopka
"I found it very humiliating and the whole experience quite shocking." Pauline Konopka.
At 6.00pm on Friday 12 June 2015, employees of Clerys department store in Dublin were told that the business was closing. They were given an hour to gather personal belongings and were then escorted to the exit by hired security personnel.
Clerys—dating back 162 years and owned since 2012 by Gordon Brothers Group, an American venture capital company—had been secretly sold in the dead of night. The business was split into retail and property sections prior to the deal going through. The retail section was sold for €1 and duly declared bankrupt, thus denying the employees and others of their rightful dues. The Clerys building was then sold separately.
Gordon Brothers Group walked away with a handsome profit from the property transaction and instantly washed their hands of all responsibility for their former employees. Those employees—some of whom had spent a lifetime in Clerys—lost all of their accumulated redundancy entitlements and were eventually paid minimum statutory redundancy by the Irish government.
The Clerys building was bought by Natrium Ltd. (a consortium consisting of D2 Private, controlled by property developer Deirdre Foley, with John Skelly and Ronan Daly) and Cheyne Capital, London. Both companies have steadfastly refused to meet the former Clerys employees or government representatives.
The former Clerys employees are now campaigning for a change in the law that will protect others who may find themselves in a similar situation.
Justice for Clerys Workers: www.facebook.com/justiceforclerysworkers
This portrait was taken as part of the Certificate in Photography and Digital Imaging evening course at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin.
Lens: Pentax SMC 75mm
Film: Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 800.