A junior minister has said workers at Aughinish Alumina in Limerick can breathe a "huge sigh of relief" after the US Senate failed to block the lifting of sanctions.
In December, the Trump administration announced that it planned to remove sanctions against Russian energy firm Rusal - the parent company of Aughinish, which directly employs more than 400 people at its Askeaton plant in Limerick.
Rusal, along with another company called En+, was sanctioned as it was owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska rather than the conduct of the company itself.
Announcing its decision to lift the sanctions, the US Treasury Department said the companies had agreed to "significantly diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control".
The decision was welcomed by Irish officials who had lobbied intensively for the sanctions to be lifted.
However, fresh concerns arose when US Democrats expressed their opposition to the lifting of the sanctions.
Democratic minority leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer claimed the decision was a "misguided effort" by the Trump administration.
Senators voted on an effort to block the move today, but fell short of the 60-vote majority needed to do so with 57 votes to 42.
The sanctions are now scheduled to be lifted this coming Friday - although a senior Democrat in the House of Representatives has called for a delay so Congress can "vet in full any settlement regarding Mr Deripaska".
Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan said that hopefully today's vote is the "end of a long drawn out matter".
In a statement, he said: "We need to await developments over the next day or so to ensure that the de-listing goes ahead as planned on Friday.
“I understand fully though that the issues that gave rise to these sanctions are currently a source of division within the US political system. And we respect that there may be differences of opinion within Washington on how these sanctions are best applied."
He added: “Our focus though has always been on protecting Aughinish Alumina and we hope that the vote tonight ensures that the firm can shortly return to full business-as-usual."
