Company recording bumper profits and dividends, but investment needed to modernise Lurgan site is withheld while Smurfit spends millions sponsoring Ryder Cup
Unite is warning that proposed job cuts by Smurfit-Westrock at its Lurgan site signals a first step in shutting the site entirely.
On Monday, the company announced plans to make 55 workers redundant (a third of the workforce). In talks with Unite, which represents the vast majority of the workforce, it cited cost pressures operating with old machinery. The factory is a major producer of corrugated cardboard for packaging but machinery at the plant has not been invested in for many years. Management explained to Unite that work currently conducted at Lurgan would transfer to a site in Dublin.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, "There is absolutely no justification for these jobs cuts. Smurfit-Westrock is a hugely profitable company paying out hundreds of millions to shareholders every quarter.
"Instead of spending millions on golf tournaments, Tony Smurfit would be better off modernising his factories to future-proof his business.”
The latest financial results for Smurfit-Westrock were from July 2026 which reported $2.2 billion in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) in the six months to the end of June 2025. Smurfit-Westrock paid out £474 million to shareholders in that six-month period.
The redundancy announcement is the latest blow to the manufacturing base in the Lurgan area. It follows large scale redundancies at Glen Dimplex and at Associated Press in Portadown in recent years.
The chief executive of Smurfit-Westrock Tony Smurfit is a major shareholder and billionaire. He recently announced the company had become a worldwide partner or the next three editions of the Ryder cup tournament. Press reports estimated the deal could be worth more than 20 million euros.
Unite regional officer Sean McKeever said: “Workers at Lurgan face losing their livelihoods because of the company's long-term failure to invest and modernise. Unite is actively engaging with our membership on their options to respond to this attack and the longer-term threat it poses to the future of the site.
"Our members are hugely concerned that this is the first step to shutting the site. This area has already been struck with a series of job loss announcements. It is way past time Stormont intervened to end its industrial decline."
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For further information or to arrange an interview contact Donal O'Cofaigh, Unite campaigns, communications and press (NI), tel. 07810 157926.