Some 61 workers at the De Regt plant in Kanturk, Co Cork, have been told that they are to be made redundant. The plant, which makes cables and connections for the oil exploration industry, is the second-largest employer in the north Cork town, contributing an estimated £1 million a year to the local economy.

Local SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Tadhg Curtis, said the news was not unexpected but was still a "hard blow" to an area which by and large "had been bypassed by economic development".

The Kanturk company is part of the Texas conglomerate InputOutputm. Due to over-production in the oil industry, the company says it no longer needs its Irish operation.

No date for the redundancies has been given to the workers. However, Mr Mike Burrett, European manager for the group, is expected to begin severance negotiations today.