Northern Ireland suffered a major economic blow today when it was confirmed one of its "blue ribbon" technology companies was closing a plant with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs.
US-owned Seagate Technologies told 768 permanent and 159 temporary workers at their Limavady factory in Co Derry they were being made redundant in the second half of next year.
The plant produces components for computer hard disk drives.
A second Seagate plant a few miles away at Springtown where 1,381 workers are employed is unaffected, said the company.
Staff were informed of the decision at a mass meeting held in a huge marquee specially erected outside the plant over the weekend.
Seagate said the plant was no longer competitive on the world stage.
Plant manager Dr William O'Kane said the company deeply regretted having to take close the facility.
He said: "We have made great efforts over the past few years to maintain the competitiveness of the Limavady facility but recent increases in global substrate industry capacity together with our competitors' lower labour costs have made the Limavady operation uncompetitive.
"Foreign exchange movements, shipping and utility costs are also contributing factors.
"We have examined several options to maintain some or all of the Limavady facility but none proved financially viable."
Workers believe work is being switched to a new plant in Malaysia where labour costs are far less than in Northern Ireland.
Seagate is currently the fourth largest manufacturing employer in Northern Ireland.
The closure is a major turnaround on company plans less than two years ago. In December 2005 Seagate announced a Stg£83 million investment in the two Northern Ireland plants and the creation of 300 jobs.
Northern Ireland's jobs creation agency, Invest NI offered nearly £25 million towards the expansion - money it will now be looking to get back.
Sir Reg Empey, the Ulster Unionist leader and Minister for Employment and Learning, pledged to do all to find work for those losing their jobs.
He said: "Every effort will be made by me and my staff to help the employees gain new employment. I am making arrangements for my department to provide assistance through our district and local offices and local Employer contact team."
John Dallat, the SDLP Assembly member for East Derry, said: "At Halloween and the lead-up to Christmas this is not the type of news people expected to hear following Peter Robinson's upbeat Programme for Government speech in the Assembly last Thursday.
"The question must be asked: 'Did Peter know this was coming when he told a hushed audience that he was creating 6,500 new jobs, or did his colleague Nigel Dodds, minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment have an inkling?'
"My own guess is that they did given that they hold two of the most important ministerial posts in the Assembly and should know."
The Mayor of Limavady, Edwin Stevenson, said the news would devastate the town. He said about half of the workforce came from the town, and the rest from across Northern Ireland's North West, Co Donegal and from Eastern Europe.
"There have been rumours of something like this for a long time so this news is not a shock.
"However, a closure will be devastating for the borough, workers from the factory from further afield coming up to Christmas."
Dawn Purvis, MLA, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party said she was very disappointed by the announcement. "This appears to be a clear example of a multi-national company taking advantage of Northern Ireland's resources before moving on.
"This will have a devastating impact on the North West's economy. I can only hope that financial packages will be put in place to protect those facing immediate redundancy."
Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Nigel Dodds said the closure decision was hugely disappointing for the workforce, the North West and the wider economy.
Mr Dodds, who travelled to Limavady to meet management and the local mayor, said: "I have been assured that this decision is not a reflection of the performance of the Limavady plant or its workforce, but is a direct result of significantly lower wage costs in Asian competitors, foreign exchange and shipping costs which have created a competitive cost gap of some Stg£15 million per year."
The minister's department said the Seagate decision had not been known when the programme for government was launched on Thursday.
A spokeswoman said: "Seagate met with Invest NI on the afternoon of Friday October 26th to inform them of the board's decision to cease production at the Limavady plant effective in the period June to September 2008."
She said there had been a specific request the information was not disclosed until the workforce had been told today.
PA