How is a small rural town like Macroom, Co Cork, to recover from the closure of its main industrial employer and the loss of 670 jobs? According to the IDA, Macroom should look at what happened to Clonmel after the Seagate closure some years ago.
The people of Macroom (population 2,500) are aware that recovery may be slow and painful. The current swathe of major closures began with the Gateway announcement in Dublin, then General Semiconductor in Macroom, followed by a string of others.
For almost two weeks now, hardly a day has passed without the announcement of further closures or cutbacks in high-technology firms across the State.
The news that all the semiconductor jobs were to go by Christmas took only minutes to convey. It could be years before the town returns to some form of economic equilibrium.
The loss of the factory means that #30 million annually has been taken out of the Macroom economy. Families, businesses directly associated with General Semiconductor and almost every other commercial outlet in the town will suffer.
The fight back will be hard.
What struck both management at the plant and the IDA was the lack of rancour when closure was announced. There were no protests or talk of sit-ins. Perhaps it was because rumours had been circulating for months. It was no secret that the semiconductor market, one of the most vulnerable when the computer industry is in trouble, was on shaky ground and that sales were showing a downturn.
Local politicians who visited the plant at the beginning of the year heard that order books were not as solid as they might be, but no one in management suggested the situation was as dire as it would be revealed to be.
When the workers were asked to assemble to be addressed by management, they expected to hear of job losses, which could be up to half the total workforce.
However, they were not prepared for news of a phased closure beginning immediately and a total closedown by Christmas.
The Gateway workers have some chance of re-employment in Dublin but not so their Macroom counterparts. Nevertheless, they have responded, not negatively as might be expected, but with a view that the best approach is to fight for replacement jobs as quickly as possible and present a confident face.
Mr Pat O'Connell, chairman of Macroom Urban District Council, sums it up: "I'm not just hopeful, I'm very confident that we will bounce back. We've faced closures here before when Irish Paper Sacks closed with the loss of 100 jobs and Irish International Tapes failed, leaving 300 workers unemployed.
"We have to accept that things have changed and we must move on. The attitude is that General Semiconductor is gone and the challenge now is to replace it with other jobs. I believe we will do that."
Macroom might draw some consolation from the manner in which Clonmel coped after the closure of Seagate in December 1997, which left 1,400 people unemployed.
The IDA had grant-aided the plant with £11.3 million (which was repaid) but Seagate failed anyway, citing some of the same reasons as General Semiconductor - changes in global trends and its involvement in an acquisition.
As for Macroom, the Government immediately established a task force which has proved most effective. In June 1998 the Guidant Corporation moved into the former Seagate factory, creating 500 replacement jobs in a £15.7 million investment.
In March 1999 the company invested a further £31.5 million and announced another 700 new jobs over a phased period.
Some 840 are now working at the Guidant plant, manufacturing pacemakers and vascular products. IDA grant aid totals £7.2 million.
In addition, the Alza Corporation will set up a factory in nearby Cashel in a £30 million-plus investment, bringing another 100 jobs to the area; Merck Sharp & Dohme, in Clonmel, has added a further 50 jobs to its plant in a £200 million investment and an advance factory in Tipperary town will be built next year. Through Enterprise Ireland, Momentum Marketing has also set up a call centre in Clonmel which employs 50 people.
The Government task force, often seen as a knee-jerk reaction by politicians to bad news, delivered in a tangible way for the people of Clonmel.
Mr Martin Cronin, the IDA's director of operations, said Clonmel was in a similar position to Macroom when its mainstay employer closed down. But like Clonmel, Macroom has a high-quality facility to offer any new investor and a well-established, skilled workforce, which has a history of good industrial relations.
He said the Guidant Corporation wanted to locate in Dublin but was "steered" by the IDA to Clonmel where it now operates happily.
Over the past number of months three investors in the health services/ financial services area have been looking at Cork and the advantages of the ready-made facility and available workforce in Macroom have already been pointed out to them.
"Over the past few days we have made contact with these companies suggesting Macroom as a possible location. They have all the details and, while nothing has been finalised, we are hopeful that, like Clonmel, the attraction of Macroom will result in one or other of these companies establishing there over the next few months.
"It is difficult to suggest a timeframe. It could take six months to a year or even longer. The thing is to stay focused and committed, and that's what we will do," Mr Cronin said.
It is understood that next Thursday two companies, Schering Plough and Boston Scientific, will hold interviews among the redundant General Semiconductor workers.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has already suggested that as many as 300 of the workers may be re-employed by companies in the Cork area.
In the meantime, the Urban District Council is also hoping to attract new industries through the "Eco Park" which it has opened on the outskirts of the town.
This will offer eight readymade units to small companies which could employ up to 100 workers each in buildings designed for solar heating and water conservation through reuse of rainwater.
"We hope the park will be fully operational within a year. We are going to fight for new jobs and we will get them. Macroom will be thriving again," Mr O'Connell said.