About this time two years ago, hundreds of families in Clonmel faced a bleak Christmas and an uncertain future. The town and its hinterland were stunned by the sudden collapse of the computer giant Seagate.
Now all is changed utterly. The Co Tipperary town is vibrant, with an air of prosperity and evidence everywhere of continuing development. Clonmel has not only bounced back from adversity but is, as they say, on a roll.
The transformation is a tribute not only to the multi-pronged, multi-agency recovery programme mounted following the Seagate closure but also to the determined and positive attitude of the local community.
"From our point of view, we were confident that we would get a replacement industry, and happily we did," says the Mayor, Mr Tom Ambrose. "This is a tremendous town to look after itself, on all levels."
That replacement, the US medical devices company Guidant, is now well established in the former Seagate plant on the Cashel Road. The initial IDA commitment on employment creation was 150 jobs by the end of this year: at the end of November it already had 380 employees.
If its further IDA commitment is met, it will grow to have a workforce of about 1,200 over the next four years, matching Seagate at its peak.
The company has developed the expertise to manufacture cardiac pacemakers at the Clonmel plant, and next year it will begin manufacturing defibrillators, as well as moving gradually into the production of other implant products. It will move to 24-hour, seven-day production on January 1st.
Guidant's human resources manager, Chris Harrold, calculates that almost half of its present workforce are former Seagate employees, although there was no formal policy to that effect.
He says the company has been very impressed both by the quality of the workforce and by the facility it has taken over.
While Guidant is growing into a success story, Clonmel has forged ahead on a number of other fronts. "We really have a booming town," says Mr Ambrose.
New apartment blocks have sprung up, and there is a range of development projects, both public and private, on the way. Hughes Mill has been redeveloped by the corporation as apartments and shop units, and the town's designation for urban renewal has stimulated an estimated £50 million in private investment. Mr Ambrose is confident there will be even more industrial start-ups.
The Chamber of Commerce president, Richard Fitzgerald, also stresses the importance of the "very positive attitude" adopted by the community after the Seagate disaster, particularly the vital role and work of the representative task force which led the recovery programme.
He points to the great potential of the new campus of the Tipperary Rural Business Development Institute (TRBDI) which opened at the end of September on land donated by Clonmel Corporation and which now has about 80 students. The second phase of this project is due to start next year.
It is said of Clonmel people that "they're good to chase a shilling, and they're good to spend a shilling."
Now a special committee is planning the celebrations for the town's 350th anniversary, and there is an active campaign to have the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann returned to Clonmel.
Meanwhile, the latest rumour is that the town is in for a further bonus shortly with the decentralisation of a department or agency of State.