US-owned Schrader Electronics (www.schraderinternational.com), which employs around 1,000 people in Northern Ireland, is to release 42 temporary eemployees at its Carrickfergus plant.

Last year, the car-parts supplier announced that it was creating 241 jobs across its Carrickfergus and Antrim sites, and Invest Northern Ireland is said to have given the company £9.7 million in support of those jobs.

Earlier this month, French firm Michelin announced that it will close its Ballymena factory in County Antrim by 2018, with the loss of 862 jobs. It blamed a decline in demand for its truck tyres in Europe, as well as the proliferation of cheap Asian alternatives.

A spokesman said: “Despite great efforts and progress being made in previous years, other European plants are still more competitive than Ballymena.”

He added that the company will release more than £5 million to help new start-ups, fund expansion at existing businesses and attract new businesses to Ballymena.