Smurfit plant closes with loss of 140 jobs

Paper and packaging giant Smurfit Kappa has announced the closure of its carton-manufacturing plant in Coolock with the loss of 140 jobs.

Staff were informed of the decision yesterday by Frank Doyle, the facility's general manager.

The plant makes folding cartons for the healthcare and hi-tech industries.

It has lost a number of important contracts recently, including deals with Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard and Symantec.

The company was finding it difficult to compete with lower-cost economies in central and eastern Europe.

In a statement, Smurfit Kappa said it regretted the closure of the plant. "The company has been affected by pressures currently being experienced in the Irish manufacturing sector," it added.

The company said it would "immediately" enter negotiations with staff representatives to discuss redundancy terms. The factory employs 24 administrative staff and 116 production personnel. These are represented by the Amicus trade union. Brendan Byrne, a branch secretary with Amicus, said it would be seeking generous redundancy terms for workers. "This is a highly-profitable multinational and we want to make sure that we get a decent redundancy package for our members, many of who have been with the company for over 20 years.

"We won't be happy with statutory redundancy terms plus one or two weeks per year of service."

In December the company wrote to staff to outline a survival plan that would involve restructuring and redundancies. Mr Byrne said about 40 redundancies and pay cuts of up to €120 a week were proposed before the plan was withdrawn by the company in March.

The plant is expected to close by the end of the summer. The site, which covers about two acres, is expected to be sold for redevelopment.

Smurfit Kappa, which is headed by Gary McGann, returned to the stock market in March, with shares floating in Dublin and London. The company has a market value of €4.2 billion.

In 2005, Smurfit sold the K-Club golf course in Straffan and a paper mill in Clonskeagh for €115 million to Michael Smurfit, its then chairman, and property developer Gerry Gannon.