What a boost Allergan gave the county when it announced on Monday morning the creation of 200 jobs, 250 construction jobs, and an investment of $350 million in the Westport company.
The good news spread like wildfire the moment it became public, setting in train a busy start to the week with top profile people from the world of business and industry joining An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the celebrations.
The story was also picked up, not just locally and nationally, but also internationally, coming at a time when the only news people have grown accustomed to is bad news.
This warm reception for the Allergan story is in the real Ireland of today, as a country where people are not only hankering after work, but also where jobs have assumed gold dust status. For the foreseeable future job creation stories of any description will automatically warrant front page news status, given that, once people have a job, they can plan for a future; without a job, the future is blank.
The announcement of these jobs has not only opened up the minds of local people towards the possibility of jobs for themselves, their partners and family members, but has also injected a new wave of hope throughout the island of Ireland, introducing the notion that there may actually be employment for those who want to work again somewhere down the line. With the Dublin technology company, Accenture, also announcing the creation of 100 new jobs this week, let us hope that further good news stories will continue to filter through in 2012.
What we really have to watch for now, however, is the continuing job losses arising for staff in companies whose finances are so challenged, management claim they are unable to meet redundancy payments. Already we have heard this happening in the case of two separate companies, Vita Cortex in Cork before Christmas and the La Senza nationwide chain, which abruptly directed staff on Monday morning not to turn up for work on Tuesday, due to the business being now ‘closed’.
Outside Dáil Éireann this week there was some reaction to this growing crisis situation when TDs and Ministers returning after the Christmas break were confronted by protest groups representing schools, pensioners, and the Vita Cortex company. Physical protests of this nature must now not only increase and intensify, but must also garner substantial public support; alternatively, should the public fail to get involved, responsibility to meet redundancy entitlements may very well fall back on the State. In other words, if the Exchequer is ultimately forced to fund redundancies in companies refusing to cough up, the money will have to be raised through new taxes levied on the general public.
Back on the ground other issues are still being sorely felt this week following the branding of some pensioners as ‘tax cheats’ by the Revenue in the 115,000 letters issued demanding additional tax payments. This move has not only insulted our older generation, but also placed a critical spotlight on their entitlement to enjoy their twilight years following a lifetime of work.
Such events, combined with the ongoing disputes regarding the annual household charge, septic tank fees, water charges, education cutbacks, and the latest job losses of 650 banking staff from Ulster Bank branches in the Republic mean that, despite best attempts at new year cheer, there is a definite air of despair around.
The potential peril in this sense of gloom should not be underestimated. Human beings are emotional creatures, highly sensitive to the atmosphere in their surrounding environment. With business people in discussion with the Mayo Advertiser this week describing it in terms of 'the vibe around being dead' - and there being ‘a lull in the air’, it goes without saying this ‘lull’ is not a good one. People are simply waiting for something to happen, to make things better. Those in power have a duty to tune in to this sense of hopelessness and work towards turning it around through inspirational leadership and proactive decisions.
Joan Geraghty
Acting Editor [email protected]
