Loughrea devastated by Cigna closure

WHILE local politicians compare the effect of the CIGNA closure in Loughrea to the Dell job losses in Limerick, on the ground the town is trying to come to terms with the news that its largest employer will shed its entire workforce.Staff arriving to work at the Dublin Road facility on Tuesday morning were unwilling to comment about the devastating blow landed on them the previous afternoon. And, it is understood that they made an agreement among themselves shortly afterwards that, collectively, they would stay silent on the loss of the 180 jobs.Mayor of the town, Cllr. Gabriel Burke, said that the announcement came out of the blue on Monday and that staff were unprepared. He said that they thought there would be some re-organisation but not that the entire workforce would be eliminated.“When management got word they were devastated; they called a meeting at 4pm and staff were told the news,” he said. “It was like a morgue yesterday evening. The saddest thing is that these people have mortgages and how are they going to pay them? “With the US election everyone thought Obama was going to pull them (the jobs) back, but they are going to India and the Philippines, which is the biggest disappointment.” Cllr. Burke, whose wife is a CIGNA employee, says he knows those affected quite well, and their individual stories.He says that one woman had been acting as the main breadwinner for her family after her husband was laid off from his job at Christmas. And, there are plenty of other stories of expected hardships.Brenda Winters of Loughrea Chamber of Commerce, whose daughter was...See full page report on page 3 of this week's Connacht Tribune