Workers in Debenhams have staged a second round of protests outside stores around the country today, calling for the government to invest in the ailing department store to save up to 2,000 jobs.

In early April, Debenhams announced that it was permanently closing all 11 of its Irish outlets and putting its Irish operation into liquidation.

Circa 500 people attended Ireland’s first online rally today to support workers from Debenhams. Digital campaigning community Uplift and trade union Mandate partnered to organise the rally, which was attended by Debenhams workers, hundreds of Uplift members, and politicians including Micheal Martin, Mary Lou McDonald and Richard Boyd Barrett.

Uplift Director Siobhan O’Donoghue said “It was an amazing show of solidarity for the people who were fired by Debenhams during a pandemic, who are now being denied their redundancy payment.

“It’s more important now than ever that we exercise our democratic rights. And in a time where we can’t get out on the streets to protest, an online rally lets people stand up for what they believe in. If Debenhams bosses think they can get away with dodgy behaviour because we can’t meet in person, they are sadly mistaken.”

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Almost 20,000 people signed the petition, which was sent to Debenhams bosses live on the call.

The protests come before the liquidation hearing for Debenhams on Thursday.

Shop stewards Jane Crowe and Valerie Conlon said that the message of the protests is that 2,000 jobs are on the line at Debenhams. “The government would be better off stepping in now to invest to keep people employed, rather than having to pay for thousands more people going onto social welfare.”

They added that they believed many of Debenhams’ Irish stores are profitable, as well as the company’s online business. “The government is putting billions in to keep people employed because of Covid-19. There are also EU funds available to prevent redundancies. We are asking all our political representatives to ask the government to take a stake here and invest to keep the company trading.”

Some 1,500 Debenhams workers lost their jobs on April 9 when the company announced the store closures and liquidation proceedings. The company’s online business is expected to continue in Ireland.

John Douglas, Mandate general secretary, commented: “We believe the company sought to enter the liquidation process during the Covid-19 crisis because it prevented the workers from being able to negotiate effectively. They couldn’t attend meetings or engage in normal industrial relations activities.

“We even saw how gardai prevented some of the workers from protesting outside their store last week, so we have to come up with new and innovative ways of making our voices heard.”

Debenhams opened its first store in Ireland in 1996 and expanded rapidly in 2006 after purchasing leases for nine Roches Stores outlets. It operates four Dublin stores, as well as two in Cork and outlets in Newbridge, Waterford, Galway, Tralee and Limerick.

In the UK, Debenhams is also on the ropes, having gone into administration in April for the second time in a year to protect it from circling creditors. The business is owned by Celine, a consortium of banks and lenders, and has a debt pile of £600m.

Debenhams Retail Ireland Limited recorded revenue of c.£170m in 2018 and booked a loss of £5m, according to its most recent filings.