fruit of the loom

It's almost 10 years to the day, 18 May 2006, that Fruit of the Loom shut its door in Buncrana.  Most of the company's spinning, knitting and dyeing facilities were relocated to Morocco.  Willie McCarthur’s (Chief Executive of Fruit of the Loom from 1987 to 1997) family first set up an underwear factory in the town 75 years ago, and in 1987 was responsible for Fruit of the Loom making a $200m (€156m) investment in the factory, creating 3,500 jobs.  The McCarthurs' created a cross-border enterprise that was the largest of its type in the world, putting out about a million tee-shirts a week and 500,000 sweatshirts.  Needless to say it must have been a huge blow to Buncrana and Donegal and especially those 3500 employees.
I have some Fruit of the Loom tee-shirts and a sweatshirt.  I'll be reminded about this whenever I wear them again.  Enjoy your weekend!!