Three things needed – Jobs, jobs, jobs

THIS election is about employment. Candidates are asking for jobs while hundreds of thousands of people are hearing from politicians failing to deliver on the reciprocal request.

Much of the attention has focused on the big-name job losses, SR Technics, Dell and Waterford Crystal. But the global players do not account for the multitude of low-key redundancies away from industrial hubs.

In places like Longford, layered complexities bring financial misery home to more families every week.

In April there were 5,091 people on the live register in the county, a jump from 2,745 in 12 months.

In a county of 34,000 people with no industrial flagship to sustain wage levels, the losses cut deep.

The county’s biggest company C&D Foods has been steadily scaling back. Elsewhere, business units lie empty and landlords have to bridge the repayment gap. Jobs are lost.

Fewer workers means less is spent in local stores which either struggle or shut down.

Their revenues are not available to drive the larger commercial players.

Against this backdrop, Longford Town’s Chamber of Commerce called in all town council candidates to press home a need to jump start the local economy.

Its president, Karen Clabby, said it has to be about trying to sustain the small businesses so the problem is not compounded by further lay offs.

“There has been a major drop in disposable incomes and people are being a lot more conservative.

“We were very reliant on the construction sector, probably more so than other parts of the country, and this has an effect. We spoke to the candidates and would be looking at the area of keeping the rates frozen and bringing down the parking charges to encourage people to come into town,” she said.

The 17 town council candidates would be tuned-in anyway. They include a broad mix of businessmen, a sales executive, a retail manager, a company director, a publican, a solicitor and a farmer.

Even before they get elected the demands are urgent.

A boutique and estate agents shut recently. The landmark new shopping centre, alongside the closed down Connolly army barracks, has failed to attract an anchor tenant.

The time people are out of work has dragged on and this means increasingly complex concerns will play on their minds before Friday’s ballot.

Longford has the Employment Development Initiative for support, where information officer Edel Kelly said the social welfare pinch is hurting.

She said while ultimately the solution is finding jobs, in the meantime it is proving difficult for people to live on the welfare support available.

“People are afraid their social welfare will be cut and the rent supplement cuts are a big thing now. The rent supplement particularly has put some people in a very awkward position.

“We are seeing more problems with debts, ESB and mortgages, and people who are losing their jobs are not aware of their entitlements,” she said.

Ironically the EDI was a rare recent addition to the town’s Mastertech business park where a number of companies have pulled out, either consolidating with other outlets or shutting down altogether.

The park is almost empty despite commercial rents in the town falling from €9 per square foot to approximately €3.

There are other initiatives. Yesterday the County Enterprise Business held an open advice workshop in a touring bus in the town centre to guide those wanting to start a business.

But the credit crunch makes it difficult and local jobs are not forthcoming.

Fás hung the week’s job vacancies on posters in its window facing onto Market Square yesterday morning.

Of 51 full-time jobs advertised five were in Longford. The rest scattered across the north-west, most in Roscommon and Westmeath.

Athlone holds some job prospects, but the road there from Longford town is a sorry reminder of the unrealised potential some investors believed could be harvested in the county.

Beyond Mastertech there are three other all but vacant business parks, large sites have been cleared but not developed.

Vacant commercial units themselves have a real affect on employment.

Rural based tax incentives and section 23 breaks fed a building bonanza. This encouraged many men working on the building sites to branch out and set up on their own.

But when the units came on stream the market was over-supplied and work evaporated.

However, Fintan McGill of Sherry Fitzgerald in Longford believes there is a negative impression surrounding local property but it is “no worse than any other town”.

“I feel we have bottomed out and we are down to the last €8,000 to €10,000.

“Prices are down 25 to 30 percent but that is where they seem to be sitting. We have sold eight properties in the last three weeks and the fall back is no different to anywhere else,” he said.

However, an inability to access loans from banks was keeping potential purchasers away, he said.

But as the candidates, the Chamber and the support services know, until people are back feeling secure in employment, the Longford electorate will be in a very unstable mindset.