There were in fact 3 factories in one, the first devoted to the manufacture of sporting cartridges. The printing of the cartridge shells, the capping, the insertion of strikers etc. Were all carried out in a special detached building so as to ensure complete safety. The girls working there were dressed in fireproof smocks and footwear. The powder used was drawn in small quantities daily from a magazine situated about 400 yards from the building. When the cartridges were filled with powder to the required height, they were passed through fireproof hatchways to a new group of employees who poured in the pellets, inserted the wads etc. and finally crimped them. They were then taken to another building to be dipped in a waterproof composition, then dried on a slowly moving track, tested on a shooting range for penetration, recoil, spread and accuracy, and finally packed for distribution. Mr. O’Malley was in charge of ‘the ammo’ and among the other thirty in this section were Bill Murphy, Sally Belton, Nora Coyne, Mary Rushe, May Lawless, May Clancy, Mary Ellen Connedy and Mary Keane. The second factory made copper tubing for all builder’s requirements. Tommy Maloney was the charge hand and among the 18 who worked there were Martin Hennessy, John Furey, Peter Deeley, Paddy Duddy, Mick Folan, Tim Lally, Christy McDonagh, John Cloherty, Michael Morrissey, Mick Kavanagh and also 2 Englishmen, Joe Cooke and Mr. Taylor. The third factory manufactured soda crystals for use in laundries, for potato spraying and for general household purposes. Six people worked here including Bertie O’Toole, Kevin Molloy, Paddy Noble, Mike Jordan and Mr. Walshe. IMI was virtually accident free. One night, about 2am, they found a naked man in the mill race just outside the gate. He was alive and the staff warmed him up by the furnace. The gardai and ambulance took him away and cared for him, but the staff never found out who he was. During the war, the army for a time acted as security men, but this job was eventually taken over by the gardai, guard McGee in particular. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Jimmy Cranny used to train swimmers in the canal early on summer mornings. They used to tog out beside the canal bridge opposite Johnny Ward’s shop. If it was raining, they were allowed tog out in IMI. Anyone who did so will remember being instantly warmed up and dried by the furnace as they came in from training. Sheer bliss. IMI eventually closed and in 1987, the buildings were taken over by UCG who converted part of them into the College Bar. Our photograph today shows some of the section where IMI made the copper tubing.