Workers at the ready meals company Swissco at Little Island in Cork staged a sit-in after being told earlier on December 16 that the company was to close immediately with the loss of all 127 jobs.

The workers were said to be very angry at not being given any proper redundancy notice and not having been paid the previous week.

SITPU union official Alan O’Leary said it was very disappointing and every effort is being made to ensure that people’s wages will be paid in full.

The union met the liquidators. Swissco’s owner, International Cuisine Limited, warned last September that the company was no longer profitable and that it would close this month if a buyer were not found. But the High Court appointed a liquidator to the company after being told that it had no reasonable chance of survival.

In a brief statement, the company, which opened 34 years ago, said it was with regret that all staff at Swissco Limited had been made redundant but it had been unprofitable for some time. It went on to say it was put into liquidation the previous day after attempts to find new investment proved unsuccessful.