Meat-processing firm Dunbia has announced that 80 of its Westmeath workforce will lose their jobs.
The firm which employs 2000 people in Carlow, Meath, Tyrone and Antrim said the redundancies at the Kilbeggan facility accompany proposals to further reduce operating costs.
In a statement, Dunbia Ireland general manager Padraig Browne said "It is with regret that the company have announced 80 redundancies along with proposals to further reduce operating costs".
The company will now enter into a 30-day consultation process with employees, he added.
Willie Penrose, Labour Party TD for Longford and Westmeath, said the loss of jobs at the plant was "a very serious blow to the company and to the local community, and comes as the second major employment setback to the town in recent years".
This employer is of critical importance to the local economy and any further threat to jobs there would be a very serious matter indeed especially in the context of the fact that every direct job that is lost, leads to the loss of an indirect job, he added.