A question mark hangs over the future of well-known retail outlets operating within Shaws department store in Wexford town - Top Shop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons, Evans and Wallis - after joint provisional liquidators were appointed by the High Court to Irish companies that are part of the UK fashion group Arcadia, in a pre-Christmas blow for the staff.
Employees working in the Wexford outlets are among an estimated 487 people employed in 14 stores in Ireland and in concession stands in other premises such as Shaws, whose jobs are now uncertain as the joint administrators seek to rescue the company by seeking a buyer.