Further job losses are feared at Fruit of the Loom headquarters in Buncrana over the next year after yesterday's devastating announcement that the company is to close completely three of its plants and shed a total of 770 jobs in Donegal.
Factories in Raphoe, Milford and Malin are to close completely between February and April with the loss of 650 jobs. A further 120 jobs are to go in Buncrana, the company's main base, where some 1,200 people are employed.
A Fruit of the Loom plant in Dungloe closed three weeks ago with the loss of 53 jobs.
In a statement announcing the factory closures, Fruit of the Loom said there would be no further job losses "within sewing operations" in 1999, but no guarantees were given for some 700 jobs beyond this date. The 120 jobs being shed in Buncrana are "support jobs". Workers described tense and emotional scenes in all the plants as the company's statement was read out. One man described "an ominous silence" at the Buncrana factory as the announcement came over the intercom.
The 165 employees at the Milford plant, who had known from early yesterday morning that their plant was likely to close, saw the local plant manager, Mr Danny McIlhenny, break down Mr Anne Whoriskey, a shop steward at the plant, said the workers were "devastated" and outraged because management would not answer their questions. "They said they had travelled to the plant to give us the news with dignity, but they have not given us any dignity.
"I wanted to ask this company why we were treated this way," she said.
She added that employees believed management at headquarters in Buncrana did not do enough to save their jobs. "I don't believe they were loyal to us - they sold us out too quickly," she said.
Many workers at the Raphoe plant broke down in tears when the news was announced in their staff canteen. Two units of the Raphoe plant, which produce fleece tops, are being transferred to Buncrana, and some workers felt it was unfair that their jobs were being transferred in this way.
Many families will be left in extremely difficult circumstances, and temporary lay-offs announced yesterday at another company, Donegal Shirts, made matters worse. More than 130 workers are to be laid off from December 17th until January 11th in the Lifford factory.
Mrs Valerie O'Donnell works at Donegal Shirts and her husband lost his job yesterday at Raphoe. "He is now out of a job and the long-term future for mine doesn't look good either. It hasn't all sunk in yet, we don't know what we are going to do. It is really a devastating experience, especially when you have a mortgage and a family," said Mrs O'Donnell.
There is a huge dependency on Fruit of the Loom jobs in each of the three towns where the plants will close, particularly at the Malin plant on the northern tip of the Inishowen Peninsula, where it will be especially difficult to find alternative work. Milford, a town of 800 people, will lose 165 jobs, and Raphoe, with a population of about 1,000, will lose 365 jobs.
In Buncrana, many workers were sceptical of the company's statement and said there were many more than 120 jobs dependent on the existing level of production from the three satellite plants. These would be in the warehouse, packing and transport departments and in a section where logos are put on finished garments.
Mr Jim McMenamin, a father of four, whose eldest son also works in the Buncrana plant, said he believed the company would have to let more than 120 go at Buncrana over the coming months. "This company has never told the truth - there are departments not even mentioned in the statement," he said.
The chairman of Buncrana Urban District Council, Mr Jim Ferry, said he believed Fruit of the Loom had treated workers "shabbily". He added: "This is typical of multinationals who set up in Ireland. They come in and use and abuse the workforce, and they are off when there is the first hiccup in the international economy."
Mr Barney Griffin, who has three children and a son-in-law working for Fruit of the Loom in Buncrana, said he believed all his family would eventually lose their jobs. "This town is absolutely devastated. People have been standing in huddles - waiting on news. Now they know, and it is so sad. As far as people here are concerned they have been very unfairly dealt with," he said.