Over 70 jobs are to be lost in Kilkenny city. Tex Tech Industries (Ireland) Ltd, which makes the outer coverings of tennis balls, is to close within three months. Details of the closure were announced to staff yesterday.
It is the second time since Christmas the local textile industry has been hit. Last December, 160 workers in Comerama Textiles in Castlecomer lost their jobs.
Tex Tech, a US-owned plant, has been in operation since 1985 and is located in the Kilkenny Industrial and Business Park on the Carlow Road.
Managing director Mr Michael Power said a number of things had conspired against the company to force the closedown.
"We lost our customer base as all but two of them moved out of Europe because of high costs," he said. The company would fulfil its orders to its existing Irish-based customers, he added.
Mr Power said the closedown would be orderly and would be phased over the next few months. He paid tribute to the staff.
Negotiations will begin this week between management and unions on a redundancy package.
Shop steward Mr Ken English, who has been with the company since 1985, said the current economic climate was uncertain and there were no replacement jobs on the horizon for the city. The vast majority of the 160 people who had worked at Comerama Textiles were still unemployed, he said.
Mr English said the Government had failed to come up with replacement industries for Kilkenny and that things would get worse over the coming months.