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Newry on Ice a winter wonderland is under scrutiny today as over 30 employees claim they haven't been paid up to date for working at the facility.
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Two of the workers Adrian O'Grady who worked as an Ice Marshall and First Aid Officer and Joe Rice, a general worker at the event visited the site of the event today. They claim that they were paid up to the 15th of December but haven't been paid for the remainder of their work.
Newry TUC in conjunction with the workers, many of who are just starting out in the workforce are organising a protest tonight at 7pm at Newry and Mourne District Council Offices to encourage the council to put pressure on the company to pay up. The protest will take place the same time as the monthly council meeting.
Newry on Ice was courted with issues from the start with the Saturday the 7th of December opening day put back to Sunday and then to Monday with little or no communication from the organisers.
Problems with the ice and the weather were cited as difficulties. Original prices were seen as too high by members of the public and even before the event opened the organisers had reduced their prices to Ice Skating for Children, £7 and Adults, £9.
These coupled with a lack of the attractions that had been mentioned in the media in the build up to the event and a shortage of up to date information as to whether the event was open or closed, either in the local press or online proved frustrating to many.
A Citroen C3 Car was also offered as a prize at the event "… all you have to do is come visit us at the event and fill out your details. You can enter once a day every day" although the wording "we will be giving one lucky winner a chance to win" doesn't instil confidence.
