A company spokesperson, Brian Bell, told FoodProductionDaily.com that the plant will close due it not being "economically viable in today's very competitive global market for packaging products".

As for other many other processors, production in Western Europe is no longer a profitable option, as more and more competing companies move facilities into emerging markets in Eastern Europe and Asia, where workers' salaries are cheaper.

The Quinn Group packaging arm also has a factory in Ballyconnell, Ireland, built in 2006, that produces food trays, film and thin gauge sheet for the food packaging industry.

"The company has also been singularly successful in building a niche for itself in the dairy spread and margarine container sectors in Ireland," it said.

As well as food packaging and property, the Quinn Group also has interests in radiators, fianancial services, cement and property.

According to the Irish newspaper the Sunday Business Post, the Quinn group has recently begun building an office development in Hyderabad, India.

The company has also purchased the Caspiy Business centre in Moscow.

Quinn will invest about €1bn in similar ventures over the next five years, the newspaper said, mostly in overseas commercial properties in Russia, India and eastern Europe. The money will be invested in logistics centres and warehouses, office blocks and shopping centres.

However, Bell said that the investments in the emerging markets had no link whatsoever with the closure of the Newbridge plant.

"We are closing this plant purely because of economic reasons," he said. "It has no link with any other Quinn ventures."

The Irish plant has been the Quinn Group's possessian since May 2004, following its acquisition of the Barlo Group plc.