Unilever has announced that it is to close its ice-cream plant in Rathfarnham in mid-2003.
The closure will result in the loss of 180 jobs from the company's current workforce of 800.
A spokesperson for the company said that the decision followed a strategic review of sourcing and cost levels across Unilever's Euroepan ice cream business and that it was an unavoidable business decision.
She said the Rathfarnam plant was too big to be sustained by the Irish market but not big enough to be competitive in the Euroepan market.
The SIPTU branch secretary for food industries, Brian O'Neill, said he was "absolutely shocked" at the announcement.
Mr O'Neill said that they had recently agreed a rationalisation programme with a loss of up to 30 jobs with the relocation of a cold store unit and work efficiencies.
He said many of the 180 staff at the Rathfarham plant had worked at the plant for most of their lives.
The SIPTU representative added that the workforce would decide on a response when they had absorbed the news.
