Some 85 people working at a Glanbia cannery in Co Roscommon will lose their jobs in January after the company's decided to close the plant, it has been confirmed.
Glanbia said it had made the decision to close the plant, following a review of "all options open to its meat canning business".
Seamus McNamee, Siptu
"The decision is regrettable but inevitable given the difficulties in the canned meats sector in recent years where the overall market is shrinking as a result of changing consumer preferences and a greater emphasis on fresh and chilled foods," chief executive of Glanbia Meats John Madden said in a statement.
"Glanbia sustained the business, even in a loss-making situation, and did all in its power to secure the business for the long term. Regrettably in the final analyses this was simply not possible.
"Glanbia strategy is to focus investments on areas of activity where we have strong market positions and which have growth potential. Therefore the decision has been taken to close the canning facility at Rooskey, to review alternative options for this site and to focus our meat activities on the primary processing of pork."
The factory has been operating on a three-day week for some time. Prior to a major fire in 2002, the plant was also engaged in slaughtering pigmeat.
However, the pigmeat slaughtering operations were consolidated elsewhere after the fire. The consultation process regarding the closure of the facility will begin immediately, Glanbia said.
Siptu sectoral organiser Seamus McNamee said the news about the Rooskey plant was "devastating to the workers, their families and the community - especially at this time of the year.
"Workers at the plant have little or no future to look forward to now," he said.
"The decision to close this plant will have dire economic consequences for Rooskey, which has never recovered from the loss of around 400 jobs in their pig meat processing plant, following a massive fire in May 2002."
Mr McNamee said that despite a commitment from the company at the time that they would rebuild the capacity at Rooskey, they had failed to do so and almost 400 jobs were lost.
"Management has instead been investing heavily in the southern states of the United States," he claimed.
"At its peak, the factory employed over 600 people. Glanbia was born out of the co-operative movement whose ethos was the development of Irish agriculture and added value to their produce. Now they are walking away from rural Ireland and the workers who helped build the plant," he said.