Workers from Clerys are staging a protest outside the landmark store on O'Connell Street this afternoon.

Over 400 staff at the iconic Dublin department store found out they were to lose their jobs yesterday - with immediate effect.

The main doors were shut at half five in the evening and workers were told the company had gone into liquidation, amid multi million euro losses.

These Clerys workers are upset at the loss of their jobs, and were due to work in the store today:

SIPTU held an emergency meeting of Clerys workers this morning to discuss the actions they will take following the closure and loss of jobs.

After the meeting workers marched from Liberty Hall to the department store.

The High Court yesterday appointed Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson of KPMG as the provisional liquidators of the company operating the store.

It had been revealed earlier on Friday that the company had been bought by the real estate firm Natrium.

130 people are directly employed at the store, with around 330 others employed by concession holders.

General Secretary of Mandate, John Douglas, says the treatment of long-serving staff at the store is unacceptable:

Sinn Féin's Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald says she can understand why staff are protesting:

The group representing the retail sector has called the closure of Clerys a 'sad day for the industry'.

Seán Murphy is the Deputy CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland. He believes the store simply 'ran out of time':