Fruit of the Loom to close both Irish factories at a cost of 650 jobs

CLOTHING company Fruit of the Loom is to shut its two Irish factories with the loss of 650 jobs.

About 370 people in Buncrana, Donegal and 260 in Campsie, Derry will be made redundant over the next five years.

Fruit of the Loom is transferring its spinning, knitting and dyeing operations to Morocco, where it already employs 1,700 people.

The company said its Irish manufacturing plants were no longer cost competitive.

It blamed falling prices in the European clothes market, wage increases in Ireland and the decision of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to remove quotas on imported products from the Far East.

A company spokeswoman said: “We appreciate that this news will come as a shock to our 630 employees in Derry and Donegal, but we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to make this announcement at this early stage.”

Fruit of the Loom was established in Ireland in 1987 and employed more than 3,500 people at its peak.

More than 1,300 of these jobs were lost in the past five years as the company transferred its entire sewing operation to Morocco.

Most of the Fruit of the Loom workers, who were informed of the decision this afternoon, had believed redundancies at the company had come to an end.

The trade union Siptu is to meet management on Friday to discuss redundancy packages.

It previously negotiated redundancy packages for 600 workers at the Fruit of the Loom plants in Raphoe, 300 in Milford, 250 in Malinhead and 50 in Dunloe.

The company paid an average of 4.9 weeks per year of service, which was in excess of the national minimum of two weeks pay per year of service.

Siptu Donegal branch secretary Sean Reilly said the increasing competition from the Far East was a factor in the redundancies but wage inflation was not.

“The workforce here have got the terms of the National Wage Agreement, no more, no less. The increases are extremely modest,” he said.

Donegal’s once vibrant textile industry has been decimated in the past decade with the closure of companies like Jockey, Donegal Shirts and Fingal Manufacturing. In July, the Unifi polyester manufacturer in Letterkenny closed with the loss of 300 jobs.

The Inishowen Peninsula, which takes in towns like Buncrana, Burnfoot and Carndonagh, has been particularly affected.

“There used to be eight shirt factories in Buncrana. Now we’ve barely got eight shirt factories in the whole country,” said Mr Reilly.

He estimated there had been around 5,000 job losses in Donegal in the past five years.

Tánaiste Mary Harney said the job losses were disappointing but that retraining would be provided for the workforce.

“The priority now must be to continue to attract sustainable industry consistent with our recent economic performance. Donegal has demonstrated in the past a capacity to do just that,” she said.