By Eoghan Dalton and Aoife Kearns
Former Debenhams workers in Waterford city have a "knot in the pit of their stomach" over how their longstanding picket will end.
Liquidator KPMG have began packing stock in Waterford, with standoffs having taken place at other stores around the country in recent weeks, including in Dublin and Tralee.
Trade union Mandate has also posted ballots to members for a vote on a fund which would provide retraining to laid off workers.
Former shop steward Michelle Gavin says many of the former staff feel apprehensive about the imminent conclusion. "You'd kind of have a knot in the pit of your stomach really because we are waiting for the trucks to come and you would be worried about it," she told WLR. "But we've been here for over 12 months so we'll see it out and stand our ground to the last."
Apprehensive
Packers arrived a week ago but haven't been back since, and it is understood there's still some work to be done to have the stock ready for removal. "It's not something that would happen overnight, it would take a few weeks to get them packed up," said Ms Gavin, who worked for the store for 27 years.
"It is hard. You're apprehensive all the time and you're waiting all the time for [the removal] to happen."
Jean Deegan, who gave 13 years to the company before it closed its Irish offices last year, said scenes from Dublin and Tralee were "rough to look at", after a clash between protesters and gardaí which was criticised by Mandate as "heavy-handed". Gardaí had attended to execute a High Court order on the blockades.
"We're still prepared for whatever comes here and we'll do whatever we have to do," she added.
Retraining fund
On Wednesday, members received their postal ballots to vote on a deal which may see them stand down their pickets. It's a proposal by the Department of Higher Education to create a €3 million retraining fund to be administered by Solas.
"The fund will be tailored to each person's needs, it will help people maybe move on and hopefully will be of some benefit to everybody," Ms Gavin said.
However, whatever the outcome of the vote, she insists that "staff had to stand up for themselves" after the company's closure.
"We know we're not going to get our redundancy at this stage but it's important for people to stand up for themselves. And I think we showed that to the government, that we were willing to do that."
Feathered friend: Pete-the-picketing-pidgeon
Finally, the ex-workers have received some unexpected support, with a feathered-friend joining the picket.
'Pete the picketing pidgeon' was born in the city a couple of months back, and has built his home alongside the ex-staff.
"It started off with two coming together and then it just escalated into about 17 pidgeons," said Noeleen McCarthy, who has taken to feeding their unlikely comrades. "There's a new little baby pidegon now who we've called Pete - it's stuff like that that's kind of keeping us sane," she laughed.
Local councillor John Hearne - who has protested with workers with over a year- says that Pete is committed to the cause. "He lives behind the hut used by the strikers God bless him, he thinks he has 12 mothers and they sit in a hut all day."
You can listen back to the full interview with the former Debenhams workers on Deise Today this morning, by clicking below here...
