Chinese hang on for Long: Former Limerick mayor's help sought in sourcing face masks

GOVERNMENT officials from a major Chinese city have sought the help of a former Limerick mayor in sourcing face masks.

As the global crisis over the Covid-19 coronavirus continues, foreign office staff from the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing reached out to Jim Long.

The former Fine Gael member, who lost his council seat in 2014, established a partnership with the city – which has a population of over eight million​ – during his term as mayor in 2011-12.

Monica Hao, of the foreign affairs office of the city wrote in an email: “We are seeking surgical masks, N95 masks, medical protective clothing which could be used by doctors and patients. If you have contact to any suppliers of above mentioned products, please ask them to offer quota to me.”

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Mr Long admitted he was surprised to receive the message, but is glad to help out.

“I have put out a few overtures and I’ve passed on their details. I’ve been reading lately that there are companies locally that would supply the masks. I still have connections to China, and I’m glad they’ve remembered that,” he added.

Elsewhere, amid global concern over coronavirus, a Kilmallock company has received a timely boost, as it’s been able to create more than 20 new jobs.

In a week where the disease – codenamed Covid-19 – has reached these shores, Irema Ireland, based in the town’s business park, which is Ireland’s only surgical and respirator mask manufacturer, is in the process of ramping up to 24/7 production, as it copes with “unprecedented demand”.

Company spokesperson Kieran O’Brien said the firm has been “inundated” with requests since the coronavirus broke out in January. As the Limerick Leader went to press this Wednesday, two new cases were confirmed bringing the total number on the island to five.

“Demand has peaked in the last couple of weeks. We are probably seeing 15,000 visits to our web site a month, as opposed to a usual month of 2,000. That’d be the scale of how busy the company is,” he said.

Established in Kilmallock back in 1985, Irema is a global leader in the design and manufacture of disposable face masks for medical, dental and industrial manufacturing professionals.

Most medical institutions would normally rely on China to supply the masks, but with this market out-of-bounds for the foreseeable future, Irema has picked up the demand, Mr O’Brien explained.

“To put this in context, we had 46 people employed on January 26. We have today hired another 14 people bringing us up to 60 people, and we’re in the process of hiring in the region of 15 to 20 people to allow us to ramp up to a 24/7 shift cycle and to keep it running week-in, week-out,” he added.

Meanwhile, with fears growing of a local lockdown due to an outbreak of the virus, the organisers of Limerick’s St Patrick’s Day festival – which will draw tens of thousands of people to the city centre – have said at the moment it is “business as usual”.

“Our event management team are monitoring the situation closely. In line with the requirements of our event licence, we will be contacting all relevant organisations in the event that national guidelines are issued or the situation changes,” said a council spokesperson. 

At present, according to the Department of Health, Ireland is a low risk country when it comes to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the boss of another city company which supplies medical equipment says demand for their products has “exploded”.

Dan Corbett of Ambicare, located in Henry Street, was forced to post notices on his shop window this week advising customers that they are out of stock of protective face masks.

“People are looking for masks, hats, and the alcohol hand sanitiser. There’s been a massive increase in demand, hundreds and hundreds of per cent really,” he said.

As a consequence, the firm is prioritising its regular customers, and contacting them as soon as supplies come in.

Meanwhile, the new president of the Irish Hotels Federation Elaina Fitzgerald has said that tourism is down as a result of the global incident.