By 4 p.m. yesterday Mr Adrian Landy, owner of Ardee's Irish Harp bar, had already been contacted by two former employees of Hawkesbay factory calling him looking for work.
"Any work, they said they'd take. Just any work. Sure what could I do? I took their names and numbers, and said I'd keep them in mind. I tell you, that factory closing - it's a big blow to this town."
At another pub Ms Joanne Weldon (20) was finishing a drink "while I can still afford one" in the Castle Inn on Main Street. "My reaction? Just shock. There were rumours but there are always rumours and no one was expecting it. I rent a flat in town and I don't know what I am going to do. I don't want to move back to my parents but I don't want to leave Ardee either. This is my home".
Ms Lynn Fedigan (23), sitting with Joanne, had been working at Hawkesbay as a machinist for almost seven years. "I've no job. I can't believe it. I left school after my Inter to go into the factory. All of us did. And what are we going to do now?"
Serving behind the bar was Mr John Joe O'Reilly who said the closure would affect every business. "It's the only industry in the town. What are the politicians doing that we only have one factory in the town? What are these girls going to do? Are they going to have to move to Dundalk or Drogheda or Dublin?"
Other business-owners in the town were also concerned. Mr Gerry McGee, owner of the Hard Day's Night diner, said it would definitely affect his business.
"I can't see the women who worked there sending their kids down to me for their tea at the weekend anymore. It's ferocious, especially after the Ardee bakery going into receivership just after Christmas. I think they lost 40 jobs there."
Mr David O'Neill, owner of Supercleaners dry-cleaning and laundry service, said he was "certainly worried".
SIPTU branch secretary Ms Jane Boushell was in the factory when the owner, Mr Hakim Valliani, announced to the mostly female workforce that the factory would close. "Hakim came into town especially to make the announcement," she said outside the factory on the outskirts of Ardee. "People were in bits. They weren't expecting it at all. He made the announcement at around noon. It's mostly women working here - there are some men and married couples too. A lot have mortgages. Some women were the sole breadwinners.
"Some were crying and to give Hakim his due, he was crying as well. I think he took this factory on in good faith. I think he really did want it to work."
Mr Michael McMahon, a shop steward, said almost the entire workforce left the factory after the announcement. "They hadn't the stomach for it after that."
In Muldoon's bar publican Mr Tom Muldoon said the news baffled and angered him.
"They are always telling us, the politicians, that these are the good times. And here we are devastated, with the biggest employer in the town closing down. It's shocking".