A call centre in Castlebar, Co Mayo is to close in May with the loss of more than 100 jobs.
Employees of UK-based Contact Partners Ltd were stunned when informed by management yesterday afternoon that the firm's Mayo base is to close down completely.
However, the Castlebar workers are being offered the option of relocating to the company's other Irish facility at Shannon Airport or either of the firm's two UK bases.
Workers were called to the canteen at 4pm to be told the news by the head of the Castlebar plant, Michael McGuckin. Mr McGuckin said the company was being forced by economic circumstances to streamline its Irish operations.
Many of the workers were fighting back tears as they left the plant yesterday evening. Some said the closure was totally unexpected as they believed the company had turned the corner as regards recent business difficulties.
One woman, who worked with the firm for five years but who did not wish to be identified, said: "We kind of expected something but nothing as bad as this. We thought maybe there would be more redundancies as there had been job losses before but we didn't expect the place to close down."
Tony Keogh said he had been one of 20 let go by the company in January but had since been brought back by the firm. He added: "Now I am out of work again. My choices are to either go to Shannon or England but from what we have been offered that's not an option. Castlebar has the company's biggest centre so I don't understand why they are closing it."
Another employee, Paula Geerinck said she was "devastated" by the closure. "When we heard about the meeting we guessed it was going to be bad news. Things haven't been good but we didn't think it would come to this. For me personally, a move to either Shannon or England is not feasible as I have a house, and a mortgage here. I have commitments so I can't just up and go to Shannon. So it's unemployment for me, I'm afraid," she said.
The mayor of Castlebar, Cllr Johnny Mee said Castlebar was being totally neglected by the Government in relation to the provision of new jobs. Closure of the plant was a hammer-blow to the workers and the town, he said.
Regretting the layoffs, Mayo TD Beverley Flynn said: "They are clear evidence of the infrastructural deficit which is causing us so many job losses in the west."