Search
10 Nov 2025
Search
10 Nov 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Fears for future of Job Clubs in Offaly
There are strong fears that the invaluable Job Clubs in Offaly will be phased out because of a government strategy.
Job Clubs serve the long term unemployed across Ireland, including the Offaly towns of Portarlington and Tullamore, as well as Birr.
Supporters of Job Clubs are very worried by a move by the Department of Social Protection to issue a request for tender to expand local employment services in some regions.
Job Clubs are run by Local Development Companies (LDC). Birr Job Club is run by Offaly Local Development Company. Some in the LDC network see the Department's move as an attempt to replace the Job Club service with a new for-profit service that is not supported by any stakeholder group or research body in Ireland. A December deadline has been given for the closure of the Job Clubs.
Deputy Brian Stanley said the new model is a 'ruthless shift' to a service which will put profit over people.
"It's a ruthless move away from the person-centred approach so successfully fostered by these Job Clubs,” he stated
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
