Irish Distillers to shed 28 jobs in Cork

TWENTY-EIGHT jobs are to go with the closure of the Irish Distillers' North Mall bottling plant in Cork City.

The company blamed the move on the loss of a key contract and the Government's 42% hike in excise duty in the 2003 budget, which it said caused whiskey sales to fall by 16% last year. Richard Burrows, joint chief executive of Groupe Pernod Ricard, Irish Distillers' parent, said the rising cost base in Ireland was a concern, but added that the company's remaining bottling facilities at Dublin's Fox and Geese and Bushmills, Co Antrim, were not under threat.

He expressed disappointment with the level of excise duty in Ireland, which he described as an "aberration".