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Waterford Wedgwood plc

('Waterford Wedgwood' or the 'Company')

Waterford Wedgwood confirms that it has informed employees at its Waterford Crystal subsidiary of its plans to further reduce its manufacturing presence in Ireland.

The Company told employees at a general meeting today that it intends to maintain production in Waterford making a range of prestige hand-crafted crystal products, its tourist trail and its Gallery operations. It remains committed to the retention of its intellectual property in Ireland.

John Foley, Chief Executive Officer, Waterford Crystal said: 'We regret the necessity of ending large scale manufacturing in Waterford, but we reaffirm our commitment to the city. We will retain highly skilled workers, our Tourist Trail, as well as our Gallery staff who together service one of Ireland's premier visitor attractions. The Company is proud of its heritage. The city of Waterford remains its home.'

Anthony Jones, Group Chief Financial Officer said: 'As part of our on-going Group-wide review of operations, it has become clear that maintaining manufacturing operations in Ireland at their current level is not feasible. Along with many other companies, we are, therefore, forced to find alternative means of production abroad. We recognize that Waterford is critical to the DNA of our brand and we will retain our Visitor Centre and some prestigious manufacturing at Kilbarry.'

Under the terms of today's announcement, it is envisaged that 280 people will leave Waterford Crystal. This is in addition to the restructuring programme announced last November under which a total of 490 employees are leaving the company. The company has entered negotiations with its employees and their representatives and will make further details available as appropriate.

16 October 2008

Enquiries:

Powerscourt (UK and International)    +44 (0) 20 7250 1446

Rory Godson

Samantha Dumas

Dennehy Associates (Ireland)              +353 (0) 1 676 4733

Michael Dennehy

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