Western Meat Producers is to close next week with the loss of 65 jobs at its Dromad plant in Co Leitrim. It is the main employer in the area and the closure will have a serious impact on the already high unemployment figures.
The Department of Agriculture withdrew the plant's licence last month and the company is not prepared to make the investment necessary to upgrade the plant to meet EU requirements.
Most staff have already been laid off and their union, SIPTU, has negotiated redundancy terms worth double the minimum statutory entitlements.