Atlantic Mills, the denim manufacturing company, is to seek over 100 redundancies at its plant in Longford. The job losses are part of a company restructuring plan, which follows the recent takeover of Atlantic Mills by the Dutch firm, Ten Cate NV. Ten Cate NV has owned half of Atlantic Mills since the late 1980s and recently announced it was buying out the other owners, DMC, a French textile group, for an estimated £7 million.

Atlantic Mills recently closed its spinning plant at Tullamore, Co Offaly, with the loss of 100 jobs. IDA Ireland is currently looking for a replacement industry.

A meeting between the company's management and SIPTU is due to take place tomorrow, and both sides say they hope all redundancies will be voluntary.

The restructuring plan will involve the implementation of new work practices, which the company say are designed to "increase the plant's competitiveness".

During the last nine years, Atlantic Mills has accumulated net losses of £9.8 million. About £6.5 million of these have been incurred in the last two and a half years.

The company has been facing severe global competition from low-cost producers in the Far East and falling prices for denim on world markets.

This announcement is part of a series of job losses in the textile and clothing sectors. Commenting on the job losses at Atlantic Mills, Mr Dermot Murphy, managing director, said "clear action" was needed to stem the company's losses.

The IDA is supporting the restructuring plan and says it will help increase competitiveness.

A spokesman for SIPTU at the plant, Mr Seamus McNamee, said the job losses were "disappointing".

Atlantic Mills is said to be interested in finding a strategic partner to offset recent losses.

There is also a possibility the company will move away from just manufacturing denim, Ten Cate NV specialises in industrial fabrics and high-grade textiles.