WITH the manufacturing sector in steep decline, the loss of 280 more jobs, almost half the workforce at the Procter and Gamble plant in Nenagh, is a psychological blow to the Irish economy and a body blow to a region where more than 1,200 workers have been made redundant in recent times.

LIKE global warming, the repercussions of global corporate decisions can be devastating.

THE announcement that 240 jobs at FCI Ireland will be lost by the end of next year is another hammer-blow to Fermoy and confirms that north Cork is facing its worst employment crisis for decades.

REELING from a threat to axe 300 BUPA jobs, the town of Fermoy in north Cork has suffered another body blow. Though workers have long expected the French company FCI Ireland to close its manufacturing plant, yesterday’s decision was a bombshell for the community.