Production workers last day as Fruit of the Loom ends manufacturing operation in Donegal.
Once one of the largest employers in the north west of Ireland, textile manufacturer Fruit of the Loom ceases production.
The closure marks the end of an era going back to 1932 when the McCarters began a ladies underwear factory in Buncrana. US manufacturer Fruit of the Loom came on board in 1987 and at the height of production employed three and a half thousand people at several plants across the north west. Competition from lower cost economies has led to the closure of the factory with production now moving to Morocco.
Competition from lower cost economies meant that the demise of Fruit of the Loom here was inevitable.
Employees at the plant, many of whom have worked there since leaving school, are upset and emotional at the closure describing it as a blow for the area. They are not optimistic about the provision of replacement jobs locally..
We're out the door and that’s it.
SIPTU representative Sean Reilly explains that six and a half thousand jobs have been lost in Donegal over the last eight years with only one thousand replacement jobs and says,
Donegal is shamefully neglected.
While production has now ceased, some workers will be kept on to dismantle machinery before it sent out to the new operation in Morocco.
An RTÉ News report on 18 May 2006. The reporter is Eileen Magnier.
