The recent trend of redundancies continued yesterday as close to 175 job losses were announced in Co Clare and Co Kildare.
In Clare, 83 electricians and 16 Fás apprentices are to be made redundant at a building services firm after a liquidator was appointed to the company.
RSEL, which has offices in Ennis, Galway and Portlaoise, petitioned the High Court on Tuesday to appoint a liquidator, and the winding-up process has now begun.
The company will retain 35 staff while it fulfils existing contracts.
Meanwhile, in Co Kildare, 75 workers are to lose their jobs at a sweet factory which is moving to a lower-cost operation in China.
Zed Candy, which manufactures well-known brands such as Mr Freeze and Fizz Bombs, said that it had managed to be marginally profitable in recent years, but the cost of doing business in Ireland was too high for it to continue operating here.
The news comes at the end of another bad week on the jobs front, with Ire-Tex, Sanofi-Aventis and O2 announcing almost 500 redundancies.
An RSEL company spokesman last night expressed confidence that workers would find alternative employment and said that many staff had already been head-hunted by other companies.
The company was set up in 1991 by Ennis businessman Ray Staunton. It received an award for quality management 12 months ago and was a provider of electrical, mechanical and electronic security services. It completed projects for major building contractors as well as at Doonbeg golf club and Ennis Institute of Technology.
Minister of State for Labour Affairs and Clare TD Tony Killeen said: "In the short term, the State agencies, especially Fás in this case, will be of assistance . . . Fortunately, most of the staff are highly-skilled electricians and will be in demand very quickly."
Siptu assistant branch organiser Colleen Minihane said that half of the workforce had been employed at the factory for more than 25 years. "When we sit down with the company next week, we hope the loyalty, service and hard work will be realised in redundancy terms," she said.
"People have been there for 30 years, they have built up good pay and conditions. There is a concern for those with long service about getting other jobs, especially ones as good as the ones they have had."