{"id":295425,"date":"2026-01-21T07:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/295425\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T07:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:33:10","slug":"hundreds-of-jobs-at-risk-as-company-announces-closure-of-co-tyrone-meat-packing-plant-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/295425\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of jobs at risk as company announces closure of Co Tyrone meat packing plant \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Over 300 jobs are at risk following the announcement a major retail meat packing plant in Co Tyrone is to close.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Anglo Beef Processors (ABP) announced on Tuesday afternoon the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/business\/2021\/05\/07\/news\/abp-buys-remaining-50-per-cent-stake-in-linden-foods-2313872\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/business\/2021\/05\/07\/news\/abp-buys-remaining-50-per-cent-stake-in-linden-foods-2313872\/\">Linden plant on the Granville Industrial Estate <\/a>in Dungannon will be shut down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Changes in the UK landscape \u201chave led to the difficult but necessary requirement to consolidate and reduce the number of its retail packing facilities\u201d, the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The company added: \u201cRegrettably therefore it is our intention to cease retail packing at our ABP Linden retail packing facility based at Granville Industrial Estate in Dungannon. <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/hundreds-of-jobs-at-risk-as-company-announces-closure-of-co-tyrone-meat-packing-plant-N2P2PM25XNEDTOPS7N34PWNOXA\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Hundreds of jobs at risk as company announces closure of Co Tyrone meat packing plant \" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TUZF2LELEFD4PIRNBTCVBXA23Q.png\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/derry-supermarket-and-post-office-owner-gutted-at-loss-of-business-that-was-big-part-of-customers-daily-lives-NWWJ33MT6ZHTNGRJEKUJTZHTDI\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Derry supermarket and Post Office owner gutted at loss of business that was &#x2018;big part&#x2019; of customers daily lives\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/XM5NNPZ4WFHTFAKYSBGOOYSE6M.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAs a consequence, we have entered into a formal consultation process with 338 colleagues whose jobs are at risk. We will seek to minimise the impact on those who are affected. This would include redeployment where possible.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Sinn Fein&#x2019;s Colm Gildernew urged Gordon Lyons to listen to organisations involved in tackling poverty\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SGSB6U5LMNODHFUQZTJQZNGL4E.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Colm Gildernew has expressed his concern over the at risk jobs. PICTURE: PA <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Colm Gildernew expressed his concern over the hundreds of jobs at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThis news will come as a shock to the workers at this retail packing facility, and my thoughts are with them and their families,\u201d the Sinn F\u00e9in representative said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI would urge the company to do all it can to retain as many jobs as possible, including redeployment. It must also support those workers made redundant with retraining or re-skilling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI will be engaging with the company in the time ahead and would urge its management to ensure proper communication with employees and trade unions.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Diane Armstrong MLA described the employees at the plant as \u201cskilled workers who now face enormous uncertainty. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cFor many families, this announcement will cause real anxiety about how they will make ends meet in the weeks and months ahead,\u201d the Fermanagh and South UUP representative said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThere is also the very real prospect that some people may be forced to travel further afield or even relocate to find alternative employment, which brings additional financial and personal strain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">She described the agri-food sector as \u201cabsolutely vital\u201d and that it is \u201cessential that those affected by this decision receive immediate and practical support\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI am calling on the Economy Minister to urgently engage with ABP Foods, trade unions, and relevant agencies,\u201d Ms Armstrong added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The company said it would continues to receive and process cattle and sheep at a separate facility located on the same industrial estate in Dungannon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">An ABP spokesperson added: \u201cThis has been a very difficult step. But we are facing a challenging and changing UK and global marketplace for beef and lamb. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cStream-lining our operations is a necessity to achieve operational efficiencies, maintain our competitiveness and strengthen our business for the long term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe are providing support to all colleagues at risk of redundancy within the ABP Linden retail packing facility. This will include exploring opportunities for redeployment or relocation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over 300 jobs are at risk following the announcement a major retail meat packing plant in Co Tyrone&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,47908,1681,18,10133,19,17,10464],"class_list":{"0":"post-295425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-closure","10":"tag-dungannon","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-factory","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-meat"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115931932564200252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}