This article is from page 2 of the 2014-01-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
NORTH Clare is in danger of becoming an unemployment blackspot if action is not taken to reverse worrying jobs trends in the region.
Almost 74 per cent of all new people signing on the live register in the last quarter of 2013 signed on in the Ennistymon office.
Fears have also been expressed locally about the growth in the number of long-term unemployed in the area, with the overall number of people signing on in North Clare growing by almost 300 per cent over the last eight years.
These figures do not take into account the number of people emigrating from the North Clare area, meaning the over number of actual jobs lost in the area could be far greater than the official figures suggest.
The overall number of people signing on in Clare rose by 302 people between September and December of last year. Over the same time period, the number of people in the Ennistymon area office grew by 223 people, meaning that 73.84 per cent of all live register increases in the county came in the Ennistymon area.
While much of this can be explained as a result of seasonal factors, with a number of large tourism sector em- ployers located in North Clare, the continued stagnation of the county’s building industry is also a major problem in the North Clare area.
“The Government needs to be cognizant of the fact that it needs to create job, not just on the city areas but in the regions as well. Opportunities are going to have to be developed for smaller, local employers who can offer four or five sustainable jobs. There is no point getting a factory into Ennistymon, Miltown Malbay or Lisdoonvarna that could be gone in five years,” said Ennistymon businessman and Senator, Martin Conway (FG).
“The recession has hit hard in North Clare. A lot of the people who are long-term unemployed in North Clare are that because of the collapse in the construction industry. It is really difficult to get employment in the area at the moment – particularly for young men.”
The number of people singing on the live register in North Clare doubled between 2005 [637] and 2008 and 1,214. The numbers signing on have fluctuated seasonally between 1,500 and 1,700 over the last fours years. It has been suggested that the repair work in North Clare following the storm might help a number of the long-term unemployed in Clare back into employment.