Seagate has announced that it will close one of its two Londonderry plants. The Limavady plant is due to close in the near future while the Springton plant will remain unaffected.

The closure of one of the American manufacturing plants comes just one week after Stormont government’s finance minister, Peter Robinson, warned that Northern Ireland would need to rely less on the state sector and more on private business especially in the technology field.

The staff were informed of the close on Monday and a spokesperson said that they can expect the closure to take place next year in 2008. Over 900 people will be rendered jobless as a result of the close.

The mayor of Limavady said that the job losses would be felt not only in the north of Ireland but also across the border in the Republic of Ireland’s County Donegal.

Seagate plans to open its third plant in Malaysia next year. The newest Malaysian plant will create 2,500 new jobs in the country.