Redundancies are being sought at The Irish Times website, ireland.com, as part of a plan to reduce financial losses for 2002 by £1.8m.

From a total of 56 staff, the company hopes to shed 23 jobs with the aim of saving £500,000.

At a meeting of website staff the chief operations officer, Mary Mangan, said a review of the company had shown a need for redundancies along with significant savings in non-payroll costs.

She said: “The overall focus of the revised plan for ireland.com is to ensure the success of the company and maintain as many jobs as possible as we go forward.”

The National Union of Journalists does not accept that sweeping job cuts are the best way forward at The Irish Times or ireland.com and said that alternative ways of reducing costs must be looked at.

Michael Conway, chapel spokesman, said: “The NUJ does not accept shedding 23 jobs is the best solution if we are to preserve ireland.com’s first-class reputation.”