A job with Coca-Cola in Drogheda was once a much sought after well-paid "job for life".
"Coke" was an integral part of the community for more than 30 years but the beginning of the end of that era was signalled yesterday afternoon when 256 workers at its Drogheda Concentrates plant were suddenly told that, from September next year, their jobs will cease to exist.
The news was broken without any advance warning at a meeting of the workforce at 3.15pm by general manager Hugo Reidy and underlined in printed booklets, each embossed with individual workers' names, distributed to all employees.
The workers, some of whom had just arrived to start shifts, were then told they could go home until today.
When Reidy finished telling the workers that their jobs would be done at plants in Ballina and Athy, and the Drogheda manufacturing plant would close, there was a "stunned silence", one worker, who has been with the company for more than 15 years, said.
"Lots of people were in tears but we all just got up and left, except for one man who shouted 'That's a load of bullshit'," the worker, who asked not to be named, said.
"Coke is a big part part of Drogheda, not just through jobs but in sponsoring lots of community stuff," she added. "It's a huge loss."
Oliver Whelan, a shop steward with the electrician's union, TEEU, said he and other shop stewards had had excellent working relations with management but got just 15 minutes notice of what was to happen.
The Drogheda plant was highly profitable, with the highest internal ratings within the Coca Cola operation, and he was "shocked and appalled" at the decision to close it, he said.
Whelan said the Drogheda workforce, which included many young couples with families, had been given no chance to make a case for retention of their jobs. It was a fait accompli, he said.
"It's a sign of the times, I suppose. One day you're in the Celtic Tiger, the next you're out of it.
"I suppose it's how multinational companies do business."
He said the unions did not accept the closure was necessary and would be engaged in a consultation process with the company over the coming months.
Another worker, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: "We had no idea this was coming." Many people would now have major worries about meeting mortgage and other payments. "A lot of people were on good money, this was a good place to work, everyone wanted a job in Coke."
While the workers were told they could apply for about 90 jobs which will become available in Athy and Ballina, there was no guarantee they would get these, she added. "Ballina and Athy are on less money, there's no benefits and no union."
Frank Godfrey, a former mayor of Drogheda, who arrived at the plant yesterday evening to collect minerals for a charity function, said the company was one of the best to come to Drogheda. Not only had it provided good jobs and injected millions into the local economy, it also benefited more than 120 local organisations through donations and sponsorship, he said.
"This is a body blow to every family in the town. I hope, even at this late stage, something can be done to reverse the decision."