First Minister Ian Paisley said that everything that could be done to ease the loss of more than 900 manufacturing jobs in the northwest would be done by the Stormont Executive.
"We are with you," he said, referring to the workforce which had just received official confirmation of the job losses.
He held talks with Seagate management at the plant yesterday along with Enterprise Minister Nigel Dodds and East Derry MP Gregory Campbell, both party colleagues.
Dr Paisley said employees would hear from management today on how they feel the workers should proceed.
Speaking to The Irish Times, he admitted: "People feel very sore ... but I would be encouraged that there is no bitterness here. There are going to be jobs lost but in the nine months that are left to us we have an opportunity to get people trained and ready for other jobs.
"All we can do is soften the blow, and give a future for those people who worked so hard to make this factory what it was. The attitude of the management has been very helpful..."
Asked about the future of the Executive's programme for government which had made a priority of strengthening the region's private sector and industrial base, Dr Paisley said the principle of attaining higher-paid and higher-skilled employment had been underlined by the losses at Seagate.
"If we had those jobs we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now because what people are doing in Northern Ireland now can be stolen away from us by very low-priced labour in other parts of the world. That's our great difficulty, and therefore we have to get our people trained in skills that will hold out against pressures like that. That cannot be done in a day."
Minister for Enterprise Nigel Dodds said there was no hope the losses could yet be averted.
"Every option has been explored, but there is a £15 million disparity between what is produced here and what can be produced in Malaysia. It will be very difficult in terms of trying to retrieve that."
Mr Dodds said 1,300 new jobs had been promoted in the northwest which were coming on stream.
"It's one of the reasons why the economy has been put at the heart of the programme for government; it is to ensure that those who have suffered such news today do have a future, and can look to that future with some optimism."
Edwin Stevenson, UUP mayor of the borough of Limavady, said a large percentage of the 900 workforce came from the locality, with many couples working there. He estimated the decision to close the plant "could double Limavady's unemployment at a stroke".
Sinn Féin's Francie Brolly accused Seagate and other multinationals of behaving like "travelling circuses".
SDLP Assembly member John Dallat warned it would be the latest in a series of cuts. "It is a disaster for the workers. We have had a series of job losses in this area, and this is very bad news for the local community."
The MP for the area, Gregory Campbell, said the plant's closure would have a dramatic impact on the region. "This is the largest employer, not just in Limavady, but virtually the entire northwest of Northern Ireland."