Packaging firm to lay off 80 workers at Co Limerick plant

A packaging firm based in Co Limerick is set to lay off 80 workers after losing a lucrative contract with the Dell computer firm.

Iretex is set to shed 80 of the 240 jobs at its plant in Raheen as a result of the loss.

The company has been operating in the area since 1994.

Meanwhile, there are also fears of possible job losses at the French-American firm Alcatel-Lucent in the Dublin.

The telecoms equipment company has announced plans to lay off 1,200 employees around the world over the next three years, but it has yet to reveal a regional breakdown of the cutbacks.

Alcatel-Lucent employs 600 people at its Dublin operations, the largest of which is located in Blanchardstown.