Sammy Douglas: "Workers need help and direction"

He said: "People need help and support. They need counseling, they need direction. They need information about what sort of benefits are available.

"And they also need retraining. There are quite a number of jobs available, particularly in Belfast.

"They are maybe not the sort of work they are used to, but hopefully this will be a short-term measure."

'Cruel blow'

Northern Ireland Economy Minister Sir Reg Empey said he had asked the government to respond quickly to the crisis facing the airline and aerospace industry.

Sir Reg Empey has asked Tony Blair to help industry

He said it was a "cruel and devastating blow" for the company.

Vice president of Bombardier Michael Ryan said the company had planned to respond to a downturn in the market but the terrorist attacks in America had made matters worse.

He said the terrorist attacks had reflected greatly on the company, particularly its regional jet market, the largest part of its business with Bombardier in Belfast.

Peter Robinson: Job losses are "massive blow" to economy

Workers' unions accused Bombardier of a "knee jerk reaction".

Roger Lyons, general secretary of the Manufacturing Science and Finance union, said: "We will be asking some serious questions about how the company got from a solid order book and good prospects to 2,000 job cuts in two short weeks."

Mr Lyons said unions were angry that the announcement was made without prior consultation with staff representatives.

"If this goes ahead it will seriously damage community relations and employment prospects in Northern Ireland, making government intervention imperative," he said.

Shares slide

Bombardier shares have lost nearly half their value since the US terror attacks on 11 September.

There are fears that a slump in demand for air travel will severely hit orders for aircraft.

The company won orders in June and July worth more than �1bn for its regional jets.