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2,766 on the dole in Inishowen 09.09.08
by Damian Dowds, Inishowen Independent
THE number of people signing on the live register in
Inishowen increased by 55 last month and now stands
at 2,766. However, 972 more people signed on in
August 2008 than in August 2007, an increase of 54%.
“Politicians are loathe to use the word ‘recession’
but there’s no point in burying our heads in the
sand any longer – we’re in recession and it’s hard
to see how we’re going to get out of it,” said
independent Buncrana Town Councillor Nicholas
Crossan, comparing the current level of unemployment
to that of the 1970s. |
“The days of large
scale manufacturing in Inishowen are long gone, but
we need high quality, high value jobs, such as in
pharmaceuticals or services. We also need to develop
our tourism product.”
“There’s a serious shortage of money about, and
Buncrana Main Street seems very quiet, but there’s
nothing for it but to keep ploughing on,” Cllr
Crossan continued. “I have great confidence that
Tánaiste Mary Coughlan will secure jobs for Donegal
– I just hope that some of them come to |
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Inishowen.”
A closer examination of the figures reveal that men
account for four out of every five additional people
signing on the dole over the past 12 months. Of the
2,766 signing on, 1,770 are men and 996 are women.
“Inishowen didn’t benefit from the Celtic Tiger
years, and a lot of our young people went to Dublin
and Belfast for work, especially in the construction
sector,” Cllr Crossan remarked. “I’d expect that a
large part of that increase is those young men
returning home.”
“Even though some may have left school early, they
are very well educated and I’d be confident that we
could handle retraining.”
Cllr Crossan added that TDs should show leadership
and solidarity with workers who have lost their jobs
by forgoing their recent pay increases that sees
their annual salary top €100,000 before expenses.
“The national pay talks are under way again, and
politicians accepting pay rises like that makes it
very hard to tell the unions that their members have
to put off their pay claims.”
“Hard decisions will have to be made and time will
tell if Brian Cowen is the man to make them,” Cllr
Crossan concluded.
The number of people signing on in Donegal as a
whole now stands at 12,955, an increase of 3,804
(41%) on 12 months previously. Nationally, the live
register grew by 42%, or 73,178, over August 2007
and now stands at 247,384. |
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