This article is from page 2 of the 2007-07-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A REVIVAL in the property market to safeguard the jobs of thousands of Clare construction workers after the annual “builders holiday” looks unlikely this week following spec- tacular losses on the Irish stock ex- oh atebetexen
In the last seven days, €8 billion has been wiped off the ISEQ index of Irish shares, with companies en- gaged in the housing market, such as banks and major contractors, the worst hit.
McInerney Construction, which was founded in Clare more that 100
years ago, has lost more than 20 per cent of its share value in the last seven weeks while Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland have lost 19 per cent and 14 per cent respectively in the same period.
Last Thursday, 24 hours before the start of the annual builders’ holiday, was the worst single-day loss in the Irish stock market since America in- vaded Irag in March of 2003.
“Obviously, it would be a concern. The people in the industry such as the banks and the big construction firms have been hit the hardest,’ said a Limerick-based stockbroker. ‘There is a lot happening on a global
scale that is having an effect but the housing market is having an impact.
‘People have been selling out their interests because they think the Celt- ic Tiger is finished. There is a lot of nervousness out there.”
Industry insiders have predicted 35,000 job losses in the construction industry this year, with as many as 3,000 in Clare alone.
“I know that people are being laid off right across the sector. We will have no idea exactly how many have been let go until the end of the build- ers’ holiday on Monday, August 13,” said Paddy Kenneally, President of the Clare Plasterers Union.
‘When they are let go, builders will try and get work from other compa- nies but everyone is in the same boat. It’s inevitable that a lot of jobs will be lost.
“All you have to do is look at the towns around the county. There was building going on everywhere this time last year but now there is noth- ing.
“Builders are not due any redun- dancy unless they have been with a company for seven or eight years. It’s the nature of the business that work- ers move around all the time so most will only be getting two weeks of holiday pay.”