Jobs blackspot may lose its only employment centre

THE only employment centre in Ireland’s second biggest jobs blackspot is in danger of closing on Friday due to a funding shortfall, just days after the Government’s jobs initiative.

The Irish Examiner has learned that the Employment Resource Centre, in the heart of Cork city, is struggling to stay open due to Fás funding cutbacks.

The centre, which employs 15 people, has been open since 1988 and provides financial and career support for the near-50,000 people who are unemployed in Cork, the second-largest jobs blackspot in Ireland.