MICHAEL ALEXANDER

When Courier photographer Mhairi Edwards and I were dispatched to Ballymena within hours of news breaking about Michelin in Dundee, I must admit that the first thing we had to do was check where Ballymena was on a map.

However, almost as soon as we parachuted into the Antrim town on a whistle-stop mission to find out what the impact of Michelin’s 2015 closure announcement had been there, it quickly became clear most Ballymena folk had heard of Dundee.

And as well as being incredibly friendly, most were also keen to talk.

Just about everyone we spoke to knew of someone who had either worked in, studied in or visited Dundee – and all felt the Tayside workers’ pain.

From the receptionist in our hotel who “used to work in personnel” at Michelin, to the ex-tyre makers in the pub whose former colleagues relocated to Tayside.

From a local newsagent who used to serve workers every morning to a charity shop volunteer whose daughter once had a summer job at Michelin in Dundee.

While most said they had been treated well by the company and many had received generous redundancy packages, uncertainty over future prospects made many uneasy.

Brexit, the absence of a government at Stormont and uncertainty over a shifting global economy were all “big picture” concerns.

However, most ex-workers simply wanted to know they would be able could keep a roof over their families’ heads.