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Alarm over Southside unemployment figures

Thursday, 29 January 2009

UNEMPLOYMENT in some parts of the Southside has doubled over an 18 month period according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office. Richard Humphreys, the Labour Party’s local elections candidate in the Stillorgan ward, expressed concern at the massive increase in the number of people signing on in Dún Laoghaire and Rathfarnham since the summer of 2007. The figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that the number of people signing on in Dún Laoghaire increased from 2,344 in May 2007 to 4,547 in December 2008. In Rathfarnham the number of people on the live register increased from 1,681 to 3,271 or by almost 95 per cent in the same period. In the Dublin area, the sharp increase in unemployment in both Dún Laoghaire and Rathfarnham over the 18-month period has been only surpassed at the Balbriggan dole office where the numbers of those signing on have increased by 100 per cent. Mr Humphreys said there was no doubt that the economic downturn had been exacerbated by what he described as “financial mismanagement” by the Government. “If the country is to be rescued and this downward spiral reversed, we need a change of Government with a renewed mandate, fresh faces and new ideas,” he said. “The jobs haemorrhage is adding greatly to our exchequer problems, through reduced revenue from taxation and additional costs in social welfare payments. Getting the maximum possible number of people back to work is a key requirement for getting our national finances back in order.” Meanwhile, two luxury hotels in southwest Dublin, which opened just last year, are to close with the loss of 72 jobs. The Glashaus Hotel closed on Tuesday January 20 and the Tallaght Cross Hotel ceased trading last weekend. Property developer Liam Caroll owned both hotels. The 186-bedroom Tallaght Cross opened in February last year and cost €20 million to develop. Its sister hotel, the 48-bedroom Glashaus, began trading in September 2007. The hotels form part of Tallaght Cross Town Centre which has been developed beside the Square shopping centre and Tallaght Hospital. The hotels were both aimed at business clients. Prices for rooms at the hotels had been massively cut recently due to the economic downturn but the reductions were not enough to sustain their viability. The number of people signing on in the Tallaght area between May 2007 and December 2008 increased from 3,577 to 6,516 or 82 per cent.