C&C’s Irish cider factory, where it produces the premium priced Magners product for the UK market, took the brunt of job cuts announced on Thursday with the loss of quarter of the workforce at the Clonmel apple crushing and fermenting plant.

The drinks group, which relies on cider for 75 per cent of revenues, is cutting 120 jobs including 103 in Clonmel, where C&C doubled capacity in 2006. Two years ago, C&C employed more than 600 workers at Clonmel, but a downturn in the sale of cider had seen that number reduced to 417 before the latest cuts.