Co Tipperary plant to lay off 230 workers

A pharmaceutical factory in Nenagh, Co Tipperary is to close at the end of July with the loss of 230 jobs. Workers at the Aventis plant were informed of the development at a meeting with management this morning.

The company’s operations in Waterford and Dublin will be unaffected by the move.

Speaking after this morning’s announcement, local independent TD Michael Lowry criticised the Government for ignoring the situation at the Aventis plant for the past year.

"What I find difficult to understand is that alarm bells were ringing here for the past 12 months," he said.

"What happened was the management and the staff recognised that, but the Government representative and particularly the minister in the constituency obviously were sleep-walking because we should have had intervention at that stage."