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14,000 jobs lost in
Donegal
22.12.08
DONEGAL is
haemorrhaging an average of 30 jobs a day and
rising, an Inishowen councillor has warned.
Cllr Pádraig MacLochlainn was commenting on November
figures from the Central Statistics Office showing
that unemployment in the county had broken through
the 14,000 mark. More than 900 people lost their
jobs in Donegal that month, the CSO figures show.
He called on Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister Mary
Coughlan to immediately outline her plan for the
economic recovery of Inishowen and Donegal and
criticised her "inaction" to date.
"Unemployment in Inishowen has increased by over 80%
in the last year, with hundreds more from across the
peninsula joining the dole queues," said the Sinn
Féin councillor. |
"This Government
ignored all the warning signs that the economy was
heading for a slowdown and failed to prepare for the
recession even though all the economic indicators
pointed to such a crisis."
The Buncrana-based town and county councillor
conceded that, while Ms Coughlan could can not be
held solely responsible for the state of the
country, her failure to devise a plan for Donegal’s
economic recovery was "unforgivable".
"This county needs real leadership if we are to
address this crisis. The Tánaiste is in a position
to deliver but this will |
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require imagination and
political will, both of which have been missing over
the past seven months.
"Instead of addressing the problem we have seen a
deterioration, with over 3,500 people in Donegal
joining the dole queues since the Tanaiste took up
her post," added Cllr MacLochlainn.
“There is a responsibility on all of us in politics
to address Donegal's unemployment crisis and there
are few quick fixes. However those who are in
Government have the luxury of being able to
implement their plans. The problem that we face is;
the Fianna Fàil led Government clearly have no plan
to date." |
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