Closure fears at top tourism spot 24.07.07

One of Inishowen's top tourist attractions faces closure by the end of the month because maintenance workers cannot be found. The beautiful Glenevin Waterfall Park, with its winding paths, footbridges and stunning 30ft waterfall in Clonmany, was created ten years ago with the help of FAS scheme workers.

However, a final two trainees cannot be found to meet the quota of 13 needed for the upkeep of Glenevin and its sister scheme in Ballyliffin. Clonmany/Ballyliffin Development Group chairperson Doris Russo told InishowenNews.com, the members were now "at their wits' end" about the looming deadline. "We have to have a full complement of workers to keep the schemes going but we've been trying for two months and we cannot get the last two workers. "If we don't make the quota, under the criteria, FAS will be forced to withdraw

the schemes altogether," she said. Currently, there are five FAS workers assigned to Glenevin and five to the upkeep of Ballyliffin with an additional supervisor. US-born Ms. Russo, who was the founder of the Glenevin scheme, said the main problem, ironically, lies with with Ireland's booming economy which has created work for many young people, particularly in the construction industry. "You have to be a year unemployed to qualify but then when you have done three years on the scheme, you have to stop to give others a chance. So we have older men who want to continue on the scheme but can't and we can't find younger ones to replace them. "When we started the scheme in 1990s there were still a lot of people on the dole and we had no problems filling the vacancies but then the Celtic Tiger came along and left us short," she added. Ms. Russo said the local schemes, on which people work week on/week off, promote self-esteem and also a social outlet for participants. "These schemes provide very valuable services and give people a sense of community pride. If they are withdrawn, despite people's best intentions to help out, nobody is going to volunteer on a regular basis to pick up garbage or do maintenance work," added Ms. Russo. She appealed for people to come forward to fill the two vacancies as well as more flexibility in the qualifying FAS criteria.

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