The textile sector has received another serious blow with the closure of Barbour Threads in Longford with the loss of 103 jobs.

Employees at the plant, which is owned by British clothing group Coats Viyella, were told of their fate at lunchtime yesterday.

"We have for some time been realigning our European production capacity with the demand there and also moving the sourcing of our Asian requirements to within that region," production manager Mr David Woods said.

"As a result of this realignment, we must unfortunately close the plant in Longford."

Mr Woods said he expected production to cease by April. Discussions with union representatives concerning the closure will continue over the coming days. Fears that Barbour Threads, formerly known as Longford Textiles, was in trouble emerged last November. At that time employees were put on a three-day week, a number were let go and three of the spinning machines were closed.

Longford Textiles was established in 1972. It was acquired by Coats Viyella last year as part of its £80 million purchase of Hicking Pentecost. Its products are used in sports shoes and car air bags.

The latest job losses in Longford come shortly after the closure of the IEC electronics plant in the town before Christmas, with the loss of 112 jobs. The county was also hit by the closure of Atlantic Mills, where 180 were employed, at the end of 1998.

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, expressed disappointment that Barbour Threads was to close the plant, just days after the announcement that Hawkesbay Apparel in Ardee, Co Louth, is also to close.

A SIPTU statement said its officials would be having "urgent talks with the company on Monday morning next when the union will be seeking compensation for those who are to lose their livelihoods".

It said the union would also be seeking an early meeting with the State industrial agencies "and will be pressing to have Longford declared a priority area of job replacements, given the particularly high number of job losses it has suffered during the past 12 months".

Low-cost competition from the Far East and Africa has led to closure after closure in the clothing and textiles sector in recent years.

The closure of the Asahi synthetic fibre plant in north Mayo in 1997 resulted in more than 300 job losses, while some 148 jobs were lost in Cork in 1998 following the closure of Millfield Textiles.

More recently, Northern Irish textiles group Desmonds, which makes clothing for Marks & Spencer, announced it was to shed about 130 jobs in the North.

Last September, US multinational Fruit of the Loom put its remaining 1,900 workers in Donegal and Derry on a three-day working week.