More than one-third of the 500 employees at C&D Foods in Longford are to return to work next month, just three weeks after much of the factory was destroyed by fire.
It remains uncertain, however, whether the company will be in a position to rebuild the cannery at the plant, where most staff were employed. Managing director Philip Reynolds said he hoped to be able to make a decision on that in about four weeks.
He outlined the company's prospects at a meeting with staff yesterday in a packed ballroom of the Longford Arms Hotel.
He said vital services had been restored to the soft-can facility, which produces portions of petfood in trays and pouches, since the fire which hit the factory in Edgeworthstown on Sunday night. The soft-can unit was not damaged but relies on services from other parts of the plant.
Equipment had also been selected to provide a temporary meat-preparation facility; a comprehensive health and safety plan had been drawn up; and an agreement reached with customers and staff which would allow production at the soft-can facility to resume on Monday, February 6th.
Mr Reynolds said this meant 173 people would be able to return to work on that date. He hoped "further business solutions" would enable the remaining 28 people who were employed in soft-can production to resume working in the weeks ahead.
However, he said the future for staff employed at the cannery was less certain.
"It is clear that any reinstatement of our facilities will take a minimum of 16 months," he said.
"We are actively involved in discussions with a number of producers in an effort to ascertain the possibilities of outsourcing production.
"We have also planned a series of customer meetings over the next two weeks which will further clarify the exact position. Until this process is completed, I cannot offer any further hope to my remaining 300 staff."
Workers who spoke to The Irish Times after the two-hour meeting praised Mr Reynolds for his handling of events, and said they were determined to remain optimistic. However, they said finding alternative work in the area would be difficult.
Michael Donnelly, a forklift-driver from Edgeworthstown who will not be among those returning to work next month, said the loss of a factory like C&D to Longford would be comparable to Dublin losing 15,000 jobs.
He lived just five minutes' drive from the plant and had worked there for six years.
"I'll be looking for a job, but it will be very hard to find one around here. But there is no point in being negative," Mr Donnelly said.Mr Reynolds said he was more hopeful that he had been last Monday said he was more hopeful about getting the factory back into full production.
"I was fairly downbeat on Monday, but we've got to pick ourselves up and get on with it because spending too much time crying over spilt milk, if you excuse the pun, is not going to get us back into business.
"Yes, I am more determined than I was on Monday. The fact that we have something positive to report at the end of what has been a terrible week gives us all hope and encouragement to continue."