Republican News · Thursday 2 May 2002

Gweedore job losses blamed on Udarás and politicians

Sinn Féin general election candidate Pearse Doherty has accuse Udarás na Gaeltachta and locally elected representatives of reckless inaction following the loss of 120 jobs with the closure of the Ruibear Motair Teoranta (RMT) factory in Gweedore, County Donegal.

The news was broken following a meeting between workers, management and officials of Udarás Na Gaeltachta. "This is a major blow to the community," said Doherty. "The company has gone into liquidation and there will be no redundancy payments. Wages due this Thursday will not now be paid. Some households provided as many as four workers to the factory. €2.25 million paid annually to the workers will be lost to the local economy.

"For months now the workers have been fed platitudes by the local politicians and have been led to believe that their jobs were safe. In spite of RMT's full order book, Udarás Na Gaeltachta has refused to invest further in the company. There is a lot of anger and dissatisfaction among the workers with both Udarás Na Gaeltachta and local politicians.

"The truth of the matter is that the government, helped by the likes of Messrs. Blaney and Gildea, have ignored the people of West Donegal. In recent times, the politicians have sat idly by, while more than 600 jobs were lost in this area. Gweedore is about to suffer the same fate as its near neighbours in Falcarragh, where 200 jobs losses in two years have laid waste to their industrial estate. The time for the slick PR spin and blame shifting must end. Udarás Na Gaeltachta should reconsider its decision not to invest in RMT before it is too late. We need action now."