The future of the AST plant in Limerick, where 430 people are employed, looks increasingly uncertain, with the company now indicating that it may move its entire manufacturing operations to Britain. And in surprise move, AST, which is to lay off 148 people next month, has also severed its contract with the Limerick site manager, Mr Martin Noonan, who left the company on Friday. AST vice president, Mr Kurt Jun is now overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company.

AST, which manufactures personal computers, yesterday announced that it is now considering selling the Limerick plant and is "most likely" to continue production at a site in the UK. However, it added that it may continue to provide some service and purchasing functions in Limerick.

"Should a sale of the factory take place, AST would then need to identify a new site to continue production in Europe. At this time, it is most likely that this site will be located in the UK" according to Mr Jun.

The latest statement creates further uncertainty at a time when IDA Ireland is preparing to enter into discussions with AST's owner Samsung on how best to support its Irish operations.

Samsung had agreed to a series of meetings with the State agency next month to discuss its options in relation to the Limerick plant, and the latest announcement is understood to have taken the IDA by surprise. Mr Jun said the company had made it clear that it needs to take aggressive action to return to profit. And as part of this strategy it has been necessary to streamline AST's European operation to remain competitive.

"It is of course sad that this should involve us having to make redundancies at Limerick. But we are very glad to be able to announce that we will be offering continued employment for a number of people" Mr Jun said. AST, which is owned by Samsung, told workers last week that it was cutting its workforce from 430 to around 300 in midJanuary as part of a worldwide restructuring process. The restructuring is part of Samsung's efforts to remain a significant player in the highly competitive computer market. It is currently undertaking a full review of the Limerick operations to determine which posts will be affected. Staff will be informed of where the redundancies will be sought before the end of the year, according to Mr Jun.

Many of the workers are expected to be able to find similar employment nearby, with Cabletron and Dell both indicating that they will be recruiting extra staff in the coming months. AST, which manufactures personal computer products was established in Limerick in 1994, and at its peak employed 700 people. With the workforce now more than halved, the plant at Plassey is too large for the company. It had been hoped that it would move to a smaller site in the Limerick area.