Tullamore suffered a major economic blow today with the announcement that sports clothes maker Lowe Alpine is to close its plant with the loss of 200 jobs.
Workers were told of the closure in a one-page statement from William Baird plc Lowe Alpine's parent company. The company said the fierce competitive climate made it uneconomic to manufacture product in Europe.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney said today she was very disappointed with the decision to close the plant.
"The priority now however, must be to find alternative employment following the closure of Lowe Alpine and the effort to identify further new investment will now be stepped up". Ms Harney said.
While SIPTU's Offaly branch secretary Mr Séamus Buggle said: "This closure will bring further despair to a region which is spite of significant in the country as a whole has already suffered major job losses".