A company in Donegal is to close with the immediate loss of 45 jobs, local representatives said today.
Sinn Féin senator Pearse Doherty said he had learned of the closure of the Euró Iompú Teo coach conversion company in Gweedore.
Mr Doherty said the company has ceased trading this afternoon and is set to go into liquidation in September with the immediate loss of 45 jobs.
He called on the Government to designate the north west of the region as an area of exceptional economic need.
"I have been in touch with the company to offer any assistance I may be able to give and to convey my sympathy with the workers. Unfortunately there is not a lot that can be done and there doesn't seem to be much hope for employment elsewhere in the local area," he said.
Fine Gael Donegal South West TD and spokesman for community, rural and gaeltacht affairs, Dinny McGinley said the closure was a "huge blow" to the area.
"This particular industry has been assembling and producing high quality motor coaches since 1985. You could say that it was an indigenous industry as it was established, developed and managed by native Gaeltacht people," he said.
"I am calling on Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Department of Gaeltacht and the Government to persue every means of ensuring that this industry does not go under. Their product is tried and tested, the demand is there, and the priority must be to save the livelihood of 45 people."
The company could not immediately be contacted this afternoon.