Time for IDA action is now
THE impending loss of 199 jobs at the Covidien plant in Tullamore is just the latest in a long line of bitter pills that the town has had to swallow in recent times.
The company said the decision was down to declining sales and increased competition from low cost manufacturers although the affirmation that Covidien will continue to remain a major employer in Tullamore was welcome news for the 450 staff who will remain in situe.
Other major employers such as Boston Scientific, Rationel Windows and Flextronics have closed their operations in Offaly completely while many more have considerably scaled back their workforces.
The building industry in the county, as in the rest of the country, has been devastated with the demise of the Celtic Tiger leading to job losses at the construction end and down through the chain to suppliers and manufacturers alike.
The calls for the IDA to attract foreign direct investment to Tullamore have been growing in volume since the start of the year but they now reached a deafening crescendo.
Tullamore Chamber President Tony McCormack has urged the IDA to put Tullamore at the very top of their priority list.
The President of the Midlands Gateway Chamber, a regional chamber representing Tullamore, Mullingar and Athlone, Tullamore business man Dominic Doheny hit out at the state agency for failing to target job creation in the county while pointing out that the vast majority of foreign direct investment in the midlands had been in Athlone.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who earlier that day was welcoming the creation of 200 IDA supported jobs in Galway by computer games manufacturer Electronic Arts, said that he would be speaking to state agencies in terms of training and future employment opportunities.
The 199 people losing their jobs in Covidien were no doubt heartened to hear that Mr Cowen had spoken to his colleague Batt O'Keefe, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation to ask that he co-ordinate the activities of the State's job creation and training agencies.
Similar proposals and numerous meeting of the various local authorities with the IDA have all taken place before but as of yet the Authority has made no major inroads into Offaly's worsening jobs crisis.
Laois/Offaly TD Olwyn Enright described this week how the town's employment base had been hollowed out with the loss of the Covidien jobs.
The time for more hollow meetings with state agencies or hollow promises from mealy-mouthed politicians is over.
The time for concrete action to provide jobs for ordinary, decent, hardworking people is now.
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Weather for Tullamore
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South east
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Light rain
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