Car Assembly In Ireland, 1967

Newsbeat asks if the Irish car assembly industry is up to scratch?

In August 1966 there were 458,779 vehicles on the Irish roads, almost double the number of ten years ago. The majority of cars sold in Ireland are imported from abroad and assembled in one of sixty plants. Cathal O’Shannon visited the workshop of Booth Poole in Islandbridge,

They’re put together like some gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

Car assembly is a relatively new industry in Ireland employing around 7,000 workers with a value of £30 million to the economy. Before 1932 cars were imported fully manufactured. Although many vehicles are now constructed in Ireland, the price of a car here is still more expensive than in many of our neighbouring countries.

At the Booth Poole plant, around fifty vehicles are turned out each week.

They’re carefully put together by fitters and welders, upholsters, painters. By the time this car is ready for the road, it will have passed through forty different pairs of hands.

Cathal O’Shannon talks to Lionel Booth about the assembly industry. Lionel has been in the motor assembly business most of his life and defends the work carried out by skilled workers in the industry. However, not everybody is happy with the quality of the cars being produced. In a vox pop for the report drivers talk of the experiences they have had when problems arose with cars purchased in Ireland.

This report for ‘Newsbeat’ was broadcast on 10 January 1967. The repeorter is Cathal O’Shannon