Fruit of the Loom's closure brought forward

Donegal’s former flagship employer, Fruit of the Loom, is to end manufacturing in the county one year ahead of schedule.

The textile firm announced last September that it would be closing its Irish operations in Buncrana and Campsie, Derry and moving to Morocco over the next four to five years.

But management expect redundancies will begin in February 2006 and both plants will be closed by July of next year.

The manufacturing operations, with 500 employees, will be phased down during the first half of 2006, a spokeswoman for the company said.

The firm confirmed the move was taking place ahead of schedule, but insisted the original phase down had been tied to production links.

“Around one hundred staff will remain with the Company to assist in the transfer and start up of the new vertical textile facility which the Company is building in Skhirat, Morocco,” the company said.

“Fruit of the Loom will consult fully with all employees and union officials on the detailed phasing of the next stage of the project.”

At its height the firm was one of the county’s biggest employers with 3,000 workers filing into its textile plants.

Some 380 are still employed in the Buncrana plant and 250 in Campsie, Derry.