Sit-in taking place in Athy's Xtra-Vision store to prevent liquidators from entering the shop

Staff in the Athy branch of Xtra-Vision have locked themselves into the store following the announcement that the movie rental chain has gone into liquidation and over 500 employees nationwide will lose their jobs. There are currently five people employed in the Athy store, three of which are full-time, and a number of those employees have locked the doors to prevent liquidators from entering the store. The Naas store was closed earlier today under the instructions of the liquidators, while the store in Newbridge closed its doors too. According to a staff member from the Xtra-Vision store in Athy, they were told only two weeks ago that their jobs were safe and that the shop would be open for the foreseeable future. After the firm closed 28 of its stores in November of last year, staff at the Athy branch were also given reassurances that they would continue to operate as normal. The employees who are sitting-in are demanding 100% confirmation as to what kind of payments they are due upon the closure of the store. While she says there are two staff members there that should be entitled to redundancy packages, other staff members would like an outline of what they are due to receive after they were given no notice that their jobs would be lost. Liquidators have been sent around to all 83 Xtra-Vision stores around the country to speak to employees, though they are just looking for shop keys, safe keys and any cash inside the store according to the employee in Athy. Workers have been told that they can work over the coming days to help clear the stores out. "It's sad to see a business that has been part of the community for so long ceasing to exist and the loss of jobs in Athy, and throughout the country is shocking," said local Sinn Féin Cllr Thomas Redmond.