The human cost behind job losses

Seagate's factory in Limavady closed on Thursday

What happens when 1,000 people lose their jobs in a borough of only 32,000?

That's the plight facing many in Limavady and the surrounding area after the closure of its biggest employer.

Seagate Technologies closed its gates for good on Thursday after 11 years manufacturing electronics components.

Only about 100 former employees have so far managed to find work.

Simon McGuinness is just one of many Seagate workers now on the job market.

His wife Kelly gave birth to their first child, Josh, four months ago.

"I gave ten years of my life to that place now and basically they've upped and left us," said Simon.

"It's not even a matter of we're not doing a good job because we were doing a good job, it's just they can get it cheaper somewhere else.

"It's a bit worrying wondering what the future holds for me and how I'm going to cope with bills," he said.

Another former Seagate employee, who didn't want to give his name, said it was a sad day for the town.

"There's been a lot of employment lost in this area and there were a lot of families relying on it.

"Financially there's going to be a lot of hardship, especially coming up to Christmas," he said.

'Depressing'

Aubrey Sherrard is a former president of the Roe Valley Chamber of Commerce.

"It's very depressing to think we've reached this stage," he said.

"The knock-on effect is very difficult to gauge at the moment.

"Of course, since the announcement that the factory was closing the problems in the economy in the western world have got worse.

"I don't know where we are actually going to go from here," he said.

Lost contracts

William O'Kane from Valley Taxis in Limavady said the company is worried about the impact of the closure on their business.

"We had the contract with Seagate and we were doing airport runs maybe every two or three days.

"I've heard boys talking about getting jobs taxiing, so it's not the best for anybody else who's already doing taxiing.

"Everybody's waiting to see what's going to happen next," he said.

Margaret Cooper owns Roe Valley Furnishings in Limavady town centre.

She says she will lose good business now that Seagate is gone.

"The certificates that Seagate gave their employees for five and 10 years service, they would bring them into us to frame.

"We did sometimes 30 or 40 a month, which was good business, but we did the last ones two weeks ago.

"Also, on the jewellery end, if someone was leaving they always came in and brought the present here.

"So it will mean quite a drop for us," she said.

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But Lucille Brolly, whose family owns a cafe in the town, is determined to stay upbeat.

"Hopefully it won't have too much of an impact on a business like ours.

"We're a small town, so we're hoping we can work at it and hopefully keep the business going," she said.