Coca-Cola Bottlers will invest €80 million in a new production plant in Northern Ireland, the company said yesterday.

However, the move will mean the closure of three existing plants and the loss of up to 290 jobs.

Managing director Alfie Lydon said that the decision would give the company "essential new capacity to respond more rapidly to changing consumer needs in a highly competitive trading environment".

The new plant at Knockmore Hill outside Lisburn in Co Antrim, which was chosen from 60 competing locations, will take 18 months to complete.

The company admitted that the decision would lead to job losses among its 1,300-strong workforce.

"When the new facility has been completed, all production and warehousing, currently carried out at the Naas Road [ Dublin], Lambeg and Greenore [ Co Louth] plants, will move to Knockmore Hill," said Mr Lydon. "The three existing plants will cease to operate."

Staff from Lambeg are expected to transfer to the new plant, roughly 10 miles away. However, most of the 185 jobs at Naas Road and 105 jobs at Greenore will disappear.

"We are entering a period of consultation with our employees and tier representatives about the implications of this decision," the company said, promising that "all affected employees will be treated in a fair and reasonable manner".

News of the job losses was greeted with anger in Greenore. Staff were summoned to a meeting yesterday afternoon, where a statement was read confirming the news.

"It's the equivalent of 1,000 jobs being lost in a city," Siptu branch secretary John King said.

"It is a huge disappointment for north Louth, which does not have a high employment rate. I think that cheaper labour costs in Northern Ireland were a factor."

Some of the staff at Pan Pak, a wholly owned subsidiary of the bottling company, said they had been there for over 20 years and had little hope of finding work elsewhere.

With 22 years service at Pan Pak, union representative Pat Woods said that bad news "had been expected, but it is still a shock".

The final decision on the location of the new plant was agreed on Tuesday night and announced to all 1,300 staff yesterday.

"Our decision to invest over €80 million in this new manufacturing site will secure Coca-Cola Bottlers' marketing, sales and manufacturing operations on the island of Ireland," said Mr Lydon.

"To make such a large, long-term investment in our business, we required a site with the highest quality water in sufficient volumes as close as possible to one of our existing facilities and with a good road infrastructure."

Apart from producing and bottling its own brands, Coca-Cola Bottlers also produces Deep RiverRock water and Fruice juices.

The company said its depots in Galway, Killarney, Tipperary, Cork and Omagh would not be affected by the announcement.