Music retailer Zavvi closed its branch in Blanchardstown in Dublin this morning with the loss of 13 jobs. This evening, the company's administrators, Ernst & Young, announced that another five of Zavvi's 11 stores in the Republic would be sold to rival music group HMV.
The stores are part of a deal to sell 14 stores, including nine in the UK, to HMV. The 110 workers at the stores in Dundalk, Dundrum, Liffey Valley, Limerick and Newbridge will transfer to HMV immediately.
E&Y said the other five stores in the Republic were continuing to trade, and talks on their sale were continuing with a number of interested parties. Tom Jack, joint administrator of Zavvi UK, said he was optimistic this could lead to the retention of jobs at the other outlets.
Earlier, the company said that almost 60 jobs were being lost with the closure of four branches in Northern Ireland.
They are among 353 job losses announced by administrators Ernst & Young across 18 stores in the UK. Last week 22 stores closed with 178 job losses.
The outlets closing are Castlecourt in Belfast with the loss of 22 jobs, Derry with the loss of 15 and Newry and Newtownabbey with the loss of 11 each.
The most recently opened branch, at Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast, where 21 people are employed, is among 74 stores across the UK remaining open.
Zavvi - the former Virgin Megastore - fell into administration on Christmas Eve after it was crippled when its main supplier, Woolworths' Entertainment UK wholesaling division collapsed.
