Workers were tonight hopeful for the redevelopment of the Co Longford pet food factory ravaged in a fire, after management at C&D Foods said it would be taking back 173 staff in two weeks.

The Longford County Mayor Frank Kilbride said tonight he expected the C and D pet food factory to be fully up and running within two years.

AS eighty ambulance staff in the midlands gear up to withdraw from on-call service on Monday, concern is growing about the demands being made on emergency personnel in the south east.

Approximately eighty Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), from five ambulance stations in the Midland Health Board area, are due to withdraw their on-call service starting on Monday following failure to reach agreement at a Labour Relations Commission hearing yesterday.