UNEMPLOYMENT FOCUS: DAY 5 Kerry requires blue-sky thinking

In the final part of our series on Munster unemployment, Donal Hickey finds that traditional industries have left Co Kerry and a fresh approach is needed

IT’S an appalling statistic by any standard — jobless numbers in Kerry are now up 10,000, or more than 150%, from 10 years ago.

Creating jobs in Kerry has always been a challenge. The unemployment rate in the county has been consistently higher than the national average — even during the economic boom — and has surpassed 26% in north Kerry in recent times.