Tánaiste's silence criticised by BWG workers
The Tanaiste Mary Coughlan has been criticised for not contacting workers at BWG Foods in Ballyshannon following the closure of the branch in the town this week.
Up until yesterday afternoon, employees said they had no contact from the Tnaiste and Minister of Education since Tuesday’s announcement.
A spokesperson for the Tnaiste said she has not had any contact from the workers. He went on to say that support will be provided to help employees in processing redundancy claims and that the Tanaiste’s door is open to workers.
This newspaper requested a statement from the Tnaiste’s office early yesterday morning but at the time of going to press, a statement had not been issued.
Meanwhile there has been a strong reaction from politicians from other parties with most advocating a cross-party approach to the jobs situation.
Senator Pearse Doherty said politicians from all parties and job creation agencies must get hungry for jobs. “It needs to become the primary focus of all those charged with responsibilities. Donegal must work and cooperate together with the singular focus of creating and retaining jobs,” he said.
He added, “BWG is the latest in a string of closures in the Ballyshannon area, with businesses struggling to stay afloat and with little action on the part of the government.
“Before the summer I challenged the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe, in a Seanad debate, to make job creation and retention in south Donegal a priority. I am again reiterating my plea to the government to take action. Ballyshannon cannot take anymore closures; the people of Ballyshannon and Donegal have a right to work..”
Fine Gael Donegal South West TD Dinny McGinley said the job losses were another body blow for employment in south Donegal.
“This part of Donegal has been transformed into an unemployment blackspot. There are some 23,000 people out of work in Donegal, and they have just been joined by a number more,” he said.
“Once again, I am calling on the Government and the State agencies to classify Donegal as an economically depressed area. They must redouble their efforts to find new employers for the county, which has one of the worst unemployment levels in Ireland.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Donegal
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
