Over 1,000 people marched through the north Cork town of Mitchelstown this afternoon protesting at the decision of Dairygold to shut down one of its plants there.
Last week Dairygold announced it was winding down its pig slaughtering and boning operation in Mitchelstown and its processing plant in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, with the loss of 270 jobs.
Protestors heard calls for the company to change its mind and for the Government to intervene.
But at a three-hour meeting with IFA representatives earlier today, the company said the decision was final and called on the pig farmers to focus their attention on managing the change.
Dairygold has said it had no choice but to lay off 270 people in Mitchelstown and Roscrea as part of a major restructuring programme at the company, but local pig producers dispute this.
The Mitchelstown Business Association says the town faces ‘meltdown’.
Since 2000, almost half of the 1,500 Dairygold jobs in Mitchelstown have been shed and the MBA believes the loss to the north Cork economy could be in the order of €30 million.
