More than 170 staff returned to work at C&D Foods in Longford yesterday after a fire at the plant last month. It is hoped the remaining 330 workers at the pet food company will return over the next 18 months.
The first large group of workers arrived at 6am yesterday, though a skeleton staff had spent the weekend preparing the plant, according to production director Noel Brady.
"I started at 6 o'clock this morning, and the atmosphere was good. Production is moving well already and hopefully the rest of the jobs will also return," said Catherine Mulvihill, as she left the plant at 2pm.
There were fears that no jobs would be saved after the Edgeworthstown factory was badly damaged by fire on January 15th.
The blaze left many families across the area facing a financial crisis. A large number had more than one family member working at the plant.
But yesterday there was a constant flow of workers in and out of the premises as a number of different shifts got the wheels of production moving again.
One worker, Dominic Stapleton, said his take-home pay with the company was about €300 a week, and he had received €165.80 a week during his three weeks on social welfare.
"It feels good to be back, I'm quite happy and enthusiastic for work," he said.
The company, founded by former taoiseach Albert Reynolds and now run by his son Philip, will inform staff of latest developments at a meeting in a local hotel on Friday.
C&D are seeking alternative production facilities in the short term.
Mr Brady said: "We would like to thank our customers for their patience, and also Siptu for their help in making it possible for us to get 173 people back to work so quickly."
He declined to say what the short-term production targets were, and said the main focus was on getting the system moving again.