He was interviewed by Mark Tighe of The Sunday Times in view of this week's news that unemployment in Donegal is up 40% from this time last year, with the construction industry hardest hit.

Speaking to the Derry Journal yesterday, he says there are hundreds like him in Inishowen.

'Worst I've ever seen"

"Every house here was in some way dependent on the construction industry. But now, it's the worst I've ever seen it. There isn't a block to be laid around here in Donegal. I've been building since I was 14 years old and this is worse than it's ever been. I haven't had a decent job in almost a year and a half.

"It's not just builders themselves, but all the related industries. There are builders' providers here who have had to make staff redundant and a lot of places have put staff on three day weeks.

Pat says that, while jobs are being lost in many sectors, self-employed builders are hardest hit. Unlike factory, retail or commercial workers, most people in the building trade are not eligible for any supports.

"We've worked all our lives in construction, and it hasn't been easy. You travelled where the work was, or you came home when there was work. But you worked long, hard days, often seven days a week.

'Nothing for us now'

"Now, when you find yourself without a job, there's no redundancy, no unemployment benefit, not even a medical card. As employers, we've paid taxes and PRSI, but there's nothing there for us now.

"In 1985, I signed on once. I got £1.50 per week. I took it the once and then left the country. This time, when I jokingly asked if I'd get the same rate as last time, they told me we would get nothing.

"There are no supports at all - not even a pension. If you're supporting a family, you have to work until the day you die."

Pat left Clonmany to work in Dublin in the 1980s, and then went on to London.

He left the UK in 1990, when the housing market there crashed, and returned to Inishowen, to make the most of the boom in the construction industry here. Pat set up his own business, employing five men to help build houses in Inishowen and Letterkenny.

However, trade has fallen off so badly in recent times that, not only has Pat, age 48, had to let his staff go, but he himself is travelling to London for odd jobs.

An estimated 12,000 construction workers have lost their jobs since this time last year, due to a huge reduction in the number of new houses being built. Last year's figure of 78,000 is expected to fall to just 45,000 this year, and down to 35,000 next year.

Because many builders have specific skills rather than 'soft' or transferable skills such as IT, they can find it difficult to obtain employment in a different sector.

'Ground zero'

Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh says the decline of traditional livelihoods such as fishing and farming, combined with the closure of big local factories meant the vast majority of Inishowen's young men turned to the building trade.