The economic downturn, which has hit the construction industry the hardest, could very well have seen a massive loss in jobs in the sector from Friday, a day usually looked forward to by builders. A figure of up to 10,000 on national basis was being talked about.

Friday last was christened ‘Black Friday’ by workers who do not expect to find their jobs waiting for them when their traditional summer break ends.

However, despite the gloomy predictions country-wide, construction bosses were in an optimistic enough mood in Donegal.

One builder in Inishowen told the ‘Journal’ yesterday: “There is still some work out there but it’s mainly one-off houses, renovations to existing homes and the finishing off of work already started. But the big projects are definitely gone. A lot of lads from here were working Monday to Friday in Dublin but that’s almost totally died. Indeed, we know of one firm that employed a lot of Donegal lads who have closed down and the boss told the lads that he plans to sit tight for two years to see if the economy picks up again.”

Asked about the possible number of cut-backs in staff as and from Friday he said he would agree with the estimate that around 1,500 people would be laid off on a county-wide basis.

“When you take it on a county the size of Donegal this would be about right - though when you add on the the loss of jobs in Dublin the impact on this county could be much more severe, particularly in Inishowen.”

Director General of the Construction Industry Federation, Tom Parlon, said on Friday that while he sympathised with those who would lose their jobs that day, he thought that in the context of the industry as a whole, the latest figures say they still had over 270,000 people employed.

“It’s a massive industry so losing 10,000 nationally on Friday, if that may be the case, and in that context, clearly is not the end of the world,” he said.