STAFF AT the Superquinn supermarket in Naas have voted to accept a redeployment and redundancy deal from the supermarket.

The deal, which consists primarily of offers to redeploy staff or to introduce compulsory redundancy, was negotiated by the Mandate trade union last week and was recommend as what the union called a “good deal in bad circumstances”.

103 staff worked at the Naas outlet, some of whom had up to 30 years service. The deal sees 52 jobs being created in other Superquinn stores for the affected staff, with staff accepting those positions being given redeployment payments and temporary travel payments.

Staff accepting redundancy will be entitled to apply for any other vacancies in future, and workers who

Mandate assistant general secretary Gerry Light said the situation “had to deal with the situation as we found it, and try to get the very best for our members as we could under the circumstances. And, to be honest, I think we have achieved that aim.”

Elsewhere in the deal, staff benefits such as a 15% discount on Superquinn products, and the opportunity to become members of  a share pool in future, had been retained.

The Superquinn outlet will shut on February 4; the closure of the store was announced in November.

At the time, Newstalk reported that the shop’s lease on its current property was to end on that date, and attempts to find other premises had been unsuccessful given the slowdown in the property market.