It goes to prove the old motto, "ask and you shall receive", says Mr Dennis Maher, shop steward at the Tayto factory in Dublin.

He was responding yesterday to news that Tayto's 350 staff will share a $1 million (€927,816) windfall from Ms Loida Lewis, widow of the founder of TLC Beatrice International.

The workers' good fortune arises out a keen sense of their own worth to Tayto. When its parent company - TLC Beatrice International - sold it to Cantrell & Cochrane for £65 million earlier this year, they sought some of the rewards for themselves.

After abortive individual attempts at persuasion, the workers decided to take an unified approach and instructed the unions at Tayto - ATGWU, SIPTU, Mandate and AEEU - to form a joint committee to negotiate on their behalf with TLC Beatrice as part of the discussions on the sale process.

According to Mr Maher, management at the Dublin plant told them at the time "there wasn't a chance of getting a once-off payment".

"We felt we deserved recognition for the effort we have made to Tayto", which is a very profitable organisation and never made a loss, says Mr Maher.

They were right to persist with their claim, especially since Ms Lewis, who visited the Tayto factory on a number of occasions with her children, described Tayto as the "jewel in the Beatrice crown", Mr Maher says.

The Tayto workforce will receive approximately 1.1 per cent of the sale price of the company, around £2,100 each before tax.