Mary’s of Donegal pulled down the shutters for the last time this week.
‘This is a savage blow for the staff and community in Donegal Town and the loss of the sixteen jobs in Marys will be hard felt all across the community. This government has totally neglected the domestic economy and the constant refrain of an export led recovery rings hollow for the staff and community in Donegal Town’ continues Pringle.
‘Where are the commitments to end upward only rent reviews and reforms that assist businesses that this government promised’ asks Pringle.
‘These changes may not have helped in the situation Marys has found itself but they could have helped to return confidence to the local economy and encourage people to continue on and shown that the government has the interests of the local people at heart. We can see what an export led recovery means for Donegal when only 28 of the 6,500 jobs created by the IDA are in the North West’ said Pringle.
‘The government has totally refused to provide any stimulus to job creation other than increasing the numbers on CE schemes. We need more than that from the people who are charged with the recovery of the economy.
“They could have used Budget 2013 to introduce a part-time work initiative that would have provided 100,000 places for long term unemployed, supported the creative economy in the North West that has the potential to create up to 18000 jobs in the next five years and provide additional capital spending that will create jobs and improve the conditions for future job creation in the country. Instead the government attacks those that can least afford it and removes billions of Euros from the economy in a policy that even the IMF have said has failed’ continued Pringle.
“All across Donegal retail premises are lying empty and more and more small businesses are considering their future and the government does nothing. When will they take action and stop the decimation of our communities through unemployment, stagnation and emigration?’ asks Pringle.
“What we need is a government that puts its people and citizens at the heart of decision making and not the FG/Labour coalition that is more interested in pleasing the ECB and Europe than protecting it’s citizens,”concluded Pringle.