An American electronics firm is to make another 80 people redundant at its plant in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in the second jobs blow for the area in days.

Solectron said that following a difficult year the outlook for the factory continued to decline and that it faced no alternative.

The news follows the announcement last week of 135 job losses with the closure of Getty Communications in Carrickfergus.

Andrew Marshall, general manager at the Solectron site, said the latest news was another blow for the firm.

He said: "It has been a very difficult year and Carrickfergus has been severely affected through the year and unfortunately the outlook continues to decline."

Hi-tech downturn

Solectron first came to Northern Ireland in 2000 when it took over assembly work for telecommunications company Nortel.

However, because of the downturn in the technology sector, Solectron closed another factory in Carickfergus last year, with the loss of more than 200 jobs.

Solectron said those job cuts were a direct result of the problems facing Nortel - which have now cost more than 1,000 jobs in the province.

In 2001, Nortel made more than 800 people redundant at its plant in Newtownabbey, County Antrim.

The plant makes telecommunications transmission equipment and had been a market leader in the provision of fibre optic equipment.

Nortel is a Canadian-owned global hi-tech corporation which operates in 100 countries.