This article is from page 97 of the 2009-03-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 97 JPG
NEW figures show that east Clare is the part of the county hardest hit by the recession.
Live register figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yes- terday, show that there has been a 91 per cent rise in unemployment in the east Clare area.
Overall, between February of this year and February 2008, the numbers receiving welfare in the Tulla Social Welfare Office serving east Clare has increased from 610 to 1,168.
This compares to a 76 per cent in- crease across the county where the numbers on the live register have increased from 5,072 to 8,932 in the space of 12 months.
The figures from Ennis show there has been a 74 per cent increase go- ing from 2,946 in February 2008 to 5,136 in February 2009.
The figures for the north Clare area show that there was also a 74 per cent increase with the numbers on the live register increasing from 807 to 1,348.
The statistics relating to west Clare
show that the numbers in Kilrush on the live register increased from 709 to 1,216 — arise of 71 per cent.
Reacting to the figures yesterday, east Clare councillor, Cllr Colm W1- ley (FF) said, “These figures are of real concern and it is very serious. The indications are that it is going to get worse and I don’t know what exactly can be done about it at this stage.”
Cllr Wiley said that the companies located in east Clare, including Finsa and Olympus Diagnostica, “are hold- ing their own, but Finsa would be
vulnerable as it depends so much on the construction industry”.
Killaloe-based Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF) also expressed his concern over the figures. He said, “East Clare is predominantly a tourist area and, in a world recession, they are the jobs most at threat.
“T would hope now that any tour- ism projects that are being proposed would be located in east Clare. | would also call on all the support agencies to provide assistance to any people considering start-up business- es in the area.”