THERE IS MORE bad news on the jobs front for Ireland, with the news that both Britvic and HMV are to seek job cuts in Ireland in the coming months.

Drinks manufacturer Britvic is to seek 100 redundancies from its Irish workforce of 730 around Ireland, after reviewing its business practices in its five plants in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick and Thurles.

12 of the layoffs have been confirmed for Northern Ireland, with the remaining positions to be sought from voluntary redundancies from staff south of the border.

RTÉ reports that the brand – which had indicated it was reviewing its practices last year – said it was preparing a new strategy which would help it grow in what was a changing drinks market.

It was committed to its significant investments in Dublin and Thurles, however. The company makes Ballygowan water as well as the Club range of soft drinks, 7up and the MiWadi fruit drinks.

HMV, meanwhile, is to close 60 of its stores in the UK and Ireland, which account for more than 20% of its retail presence on these islands.

Sales in the Christmas period were down by 13.6% on a like-for-like basis with levels last year, with the company blaming both the increased prevalence of music downloading as well as the unusually difficult weather conditions.

The chain did not indicate how many of the 60 closures would come in the Republic of Ireland, where HMV runs 16 stores, or in the North where it runs 12.