The Galway-based Royal Tara Fine Bone China company is to close with the loss of 80 jobs, due to increased costs and competition from Asia.
Staff at the plant in Mervue were informed of the closure yesterday, and were told that first lay-offs would take place by the end of July. The factory will close its doors altogether in December.
SIPTU, which represents just over 50 of the staff, said it was aware of the company's difficulties. The union said it would be initiating discussions with the company's management next week on a redundancy and severance package.
Royal Tara China has been making fine bone china in Galway for 50 years, and yesterday its managing director, Mr Michael Kilroy, said the decision to close was particularly sad.
The global economic downturn, the aftermath of the foot-and-mouth crisis, the September 11th attacks in the US and the Iraqi war had contributed to three of the most difficult trading years in the luxury giftware and tourism industries, he said.
The most significant factor has been the increased labour costs in manufacturing, a very labour-intensive commodity, at a time when costs in the Far East were up to 20 times lower. Rapidly rising energy and insurance costs had compounded the situation.
The managing director also said the "made in Ireland" mark was no longer valued. "It has always been our unique selling point that our product was entirely handcrafted and Irish-made, but regrettably the demand for this type of product has declined."
Mr Brendan Cunningham of SIPTU in Galway said: "It is very sad, given that the company has been over 50 years here, but it is just unable to compete with the much cheaper operations in China."
