Three years ago young men from Inishowen were earning a e1,000 a week and were 'mad for work'. Now many of them are emigrating as the economy in the North-West goes into freefall and umemployment rises.
Speaking with the 'Journal' yesterday Donegal T.D. Joe McHugh demanded that Derry's Magee College and Letterkenny's Institute of Technology be 'funded to the hilt' in what he described as a 'much needed Cross-Border pilot programme'.
Deputy McHug
h said:" We all know the story in this part of the world - fishing gone, agriculture gone, the shirt factories and the textile industry gone - but what annoys me is that the goverment cries crocodile tears about how they care for us but then do nothing about it. We have seen all this before - when times were good, all investment went to the east coast. When the peace process was top of the agenda the whole emphasis was on the Dublin-Belfast corridor. At no stage has the North-West got the resources - and the attention - it deserves. Now we are in real difficulties."
Stating that the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowan had stated that he was going to 'front load' major capital programmes Deputy McHugh some of those projects should be in this region.
"All the major infrastructural projects are either run south from Dublin to Cork or west from Dublin to Galway. That's got to change. We need a major capital project in this region to act as catalyst for our economy which really is in a nosedive. Not that long ago we had young men from Inishowen earning a £1,000 a week. Now they are emigrating. This is not anecdotal. The facts are there on the ground."
Deputy McHugh suggested that work on the Derry-to-Dublin carriageway or a major spend on the rail infrastructure to include Donegal would be a useful boost at this time.
He went on: "Some years back the building industry in this region was so buoyant that young men went after work and big money, but didn't really get an education. Now we need to concentrate on reskilling and upskilling these people, people who can make a massive contribution to this area. One of the ways we could do this was if Magee College in Derry and Letterkenny Institute of Technology were funded to the hilt to provide high end training programmes.
"All the airy, fairy talk and empty promises doesn't wash with the people any more. We need to see concrete proposals put in place and then acted on."
The full article contains 436 words and appears in Journal Friday newspaper.
