Kieran’s Our City, Our Town,

Cork Independent, 28 August 2014

“Technical Memories (Part 86) – Dunlops of the 1960s

“It is obvious that Cork in general and Dunlops and Fords, in particular do not fully share the views of a depressed future for our car-building industry. A very high percentage of Dunlop’s business is supplying original equipment to the assembly industry. All but a tiny fraction of the new vehicles have their wheels shod by tyres made in Cork. In any trading arrangement, which envisages completed cars being imported here with tyres already fitted of course, the consequences must be very serious for Dunlop” (journalist, Irish Press, 15 November, 1965, p.6).

With a £2m capital outlay for expansion revealed by the Irish Dunlop Company in early November 1965, two new giant industrial blocks were to be built in Dublin and Cork. The new office block at Cork comprised 48,000 square feet, spanning across six storeys and sitting on 130 piles into the Centre Park Road swamp. The new and modern-marketed building was to dominate the Marina Estate soaring over the one storey factory units. Irish materials were used in its construction. The Dunlops space was designed so that a computer centre, Cork’s first commercial computer, could occupy the whole of the ground floor. The proposed research staff were to be recruited from Irish universities, and were to begin work in Dunlop’s central division, located near Fort Dunlop, Birmingham. Initially 12 Irish university graduates were to be employed, but when the full programme developed, this figure was to increase to 30 graduates and ten assistants, who were to be located in the research laboratories part of the new administration block at the Marina. The Cork research centre was to carry out basic research for the central organisation.

In 1965, it was stated that the company’s payroll amounted to over £2m per year and total wages and salaries paid out in the previous 30 years exceeded £20 million. Payments by way of taxation, excise duty and local rates, in 1965 had reached a record level of nearly £900,000 (Irish Press, 12 November 1965, p.8). The Dunlops plan unveiled in November 1965 came 24 hours prior, T.J. Brennan, Managing Director of Fords, announced his company’s intention of spending £1 ½ million on major extensions to their assembly capacity (see previous articles).

The policy of the Irish Dunlop Company had always been to purchase its requirements of materials from Irish sources where practicable. On items such as textiles, packing materials and fuel and power, the company paid out almost £1m in 1965 to other Irish producers. The company hoped to increase its tyre exports to over 100,000 tyres – more than double the quantity for 1964. The firm in Cork was to amass a production area of 250,000 square feet and 125,000 square feet of storage. The firm had also just taken over the Irish Rubber Products factory at Waterford.

Fast forward to September 1967 and during a tour of the 17-acre Dunlops Plant at the Marina to journalists, E J Power, General Manager, expressed confidence in the future of the plant. He commented that if the Cork factory was to continue at maximum employment, which ran to more than 2,000 people, they would have to secure increased productivity. This would occur pending an improvement in the Irish economy, and an increase in exports, particularly to Britain where, where he added the motor industry was passing through a poor period. He explained that the Irish tyre market amounted to about one million tyres a year being exported to 58 countries. This was worth £6 ½ m to Dunlops and up to July 1966, Dunlops had 80 per cent of that market. Since then, imported tyres had cut into their business. Power to journalists noted of a large decline: “no one could have foreseen a few years ago, the slackening in world trade and consequently foreign tyre manufacturers had to get rid of their surpluses. Because our tyre market was small any influx of imports was bound to leave its effects…it will be necessary for us to rationalise still further over the next year, particularly in our non-tyre products but we will try and spread this and cushion it as humanly possible”. 

A press conference by Mr William Bailey, Director of European Operations, in early February 1969 and as reported by the Irish Independent (6 February 1969) commented Dunlops had 103 factories worldwide and 20 research units in five continents. In Europe, Mr Bailey pointed out that these were located in Britain, Ireland, France and Germany and, together employed nearly 40,000 people. Referring to the future growth of the market, he detailed that tyres were a growth industry throughout the world and that demand was growing at about 8 per cent per annum and Europe, as one of the major growth areas, accounts for about one-third of the world sales of car tyres and a quarter of truck tyre sales. Domestic European demand in 1967 was 100 million car tyres with probability of expansion by double by 1980.  His operations were planning to invest £40m into the European branches. He announced that a new tyre compounding department was to be built, costing over £1million, and that this would be in operation at Fort Dunlop in Birmingham.  

To be continued…

Caption:

757a. Map of Dunlops plant, Centre Park Road, Cork, 1960 before expansion (source: Claire Hackett).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent,  7 August 2014

“Technical Memories (Part 85) –Plans for Modernisation”

In 1934, the Irish Dunlop Company commenced manufacture in Ireland at its factory at Centre Park Road, held under a lease from Henry Ford & Son.  Under a State manufacture licence, the company was to provide at least eighty per cent in quantity of the country’s requirements of pneumatic rubber tyres.

In a Dáil Éireann debate in mid June 1935, Seán Lemass moved the adoption of a quota order, which prohibited the importation of motor tyres and tubes except under licence. During a debate he noted that the Dunlop Co had been informed that it would be the policy of the Government to refuse a licence to any other external company to manufacture in the country any class of goods, which were being produced by that firm in their factory in Cork. Dunlops would have to produce in sufficient quantities of satisfactory quality and at reasonable prices.

Snippets of social history from this time include the foundation for its famous social club or at this time its Athletic Club set up at the works in late 1936. In December of that year, at the Novices’ Cross-Country Championship at Bandon, the club was represented by eight competitors. W A Nestor, a county and Munster sprint champion had joined the workforce in 1936 as well as prominent athlete, Florrie O’Mahony from Ballydehob. Florrie’s brother was Danno who won the NWA World title from Jim Londos in Boston on 30 June 1935, and was known as the “Irish Whip” in celebration of his famous throwing technique. He was also a champion hammer-thrower and a statue of Danno today exists in the heart of Ballydehob.

At the outbreak of World War II, the Dunlop company was producing virtually all types of pneumatic tyres, a complete range of rubber footwear, rubber soles and heels, rubber hot water bottles, golf balls, tennis balls and sundry other articles manufactured with rubber – the output was deemed at a level sufficient to meet the requirements of the home market. However War created a shortage of raw materials and forced the company to concentrate on the production of tyres to the virtual exclusion of other goods. In the Irish Press on 21 November 1941 (p2) the journalist wrote that the Irish Dunlop Company Ltd was appointed official agents by the government for disposal of all grades of salvage rubber. It was illegal to dispose of salvage rubber otherwise than to the government’s authorised agents. Cash payments were to made on the spot who had rubber.

By April 1947, the company entered into a contract to purchase from Messrs Henry Ford & Son Ltd for £260,000 its factory at Marina Cork. It was initially held under a lease, which was due to expire. The then factory was deemed a modern building, containing nearly 200,000 square feet of floor space, fronting upon a deep water berth on the River Lee (Irish Independent, 17 April 1947, p.7). To meet the purchase price and to provide for the cost of extensions onto adjoining ground, and new equipment, a sum of approximately £450,000 was required. The sum of £330,700 was raised through an increase in the company’s issues share capital of 100,000 ordinary shares. Preference shares to existing shareholders and first mortgage debenture stock were to provide the rest of the funding required.

Fast forward to the 1960s and many Irish households and Irish industrial and commercial projects were dependent on Dunlop to a large or minor extent. An article in the Irish Press by journalist Liam Flynn on 23 April 1962 (p.9) reminded readers that the company produced 35,000 golf balls a year and tennis balls were coming onto the market from Cork at the rate of 6,000 dozen a year. Footwear had leaped from 730,000 pairs in 1936 to 1,500,000 pairs in 1961. Although Dunlop supplied the entire country, the output far exceeded the demands and consequently there was a solid export market engineered through their worldwide organisation. Many countries in the world used some Cork products including large markets in Britain and Germany and further afield in South Africa, Pakistan and the US. Despite the Cork work’s connection with the massive worldwide organisation, the Irish section of 2,500 employees was manned almost exclusively by Irish personnel. In an interview by Mr Flynn with Mr E J Power, general manager of the company in Ireland, Mr Power noted of the forecast that the car population of the country was to grow at a faster rates. Mr Power noted: “we are carrying out plans for modernisation, to meet the growing volume of the Irish market”.

Mr Power’s plans were revealed as costing £2million when unveiled in November 1965. The expansion programme included moving the Dunlop head office from Dublin to Cork’s Marina to a specially constructed six-storey block. A new sales head-quarters was to be erected in Dublin. The company had found that the factory and headquarters were best sited together, giving close liaison between management and production departments. The new office block at Cork was designed so that a computer centre could occupy the whole of one floor. The nucleus of the research staff, recruited from Irish universities, then begun in Dunlop’s central research and development division, located near Fort Dunlop, Birmingham.

To be continued…

Captions:

754a. Advertisement for Dunlop’s Tyres, 1960s (Source: Cork City Library)