Inaction on jobs forcing Irish workers to emigrate

Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh with activists protesting the lack of a government jobs policy

UNEMPLOYED workers and Dublin Sinn Féin activists took their passports and suitcases to Leinster House on Monday and formed a queue to leave the country in a piece of street theatre to highlight the emigration of thousands of Ireland’s skilled workers as a result of the Government’s failure to bring forward an economic stimulus plan to create and retain jobs.
At the protest, Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh tore into the Fianna Fáil and Green parties for lavishing attention on failing banks while ignoring the plight of hard-working families who are once again being forced to emigrate to find a future and a job.
“The Government must get a handle on the jobs crisis. Last week’s ESRI report confirmed that emigration is acting as a safety valve for the Irish economy.”
He said skilled workers forced to flee overseas are the very people we need to help build a new, vibrant Irish economy.”

TALENTED PEOPLE EMIGRATING
The Government’s obsession with bailing out failed banks instead of focusing on creating jobs is the cause of the mass emigration of some of Ireland’s most talented people, the Dublin deputy said.
“Sinn Féin is campaigning for jobs for the unemployed,” he added, publishing proposals to get at least 50,000 young people off the dole and into jobs or training and education programmes. This includes a proposal for a youth jobs fund to create 20,000 new jobs.
“The Government must take these proposals into consideration. They can no longer ignore the jobs crisis and the plight of our unemployed.”

Donegal says no to the boat
Sinn Féin Councillor Cora Harvey is pictured with party colleagues taking signatures at a table Sinn Féin set up in Ballybofey, County Donegal, at the weekend seeking signatures for their postcard campaign to highlight youth unemployment.
The postcards are being collected around the county and will be delivered to Taoiseach Brian Cowen calling on him to act urgently in relation to rising unemployment and create more jobs, especially for young people who are having to leave Ireland in their thousands to seek work abroad.  
“It is scandalous that once again we are educating our young people to a very high standard only for them to have to emigrate overseas to get a decent job,” said Harvey. “I am now calling on Brian Cowen to create a youth job fund to create 20,000 jobs for our young skilled and very well educated youth before we lose another generation to emigration.”

Clonakilty highlights national disaster
Clonakilty Sinn Féin has taken the bull by the horns in trying to highlight the ongoing national disaster of job losses in the country and to shine a spotlight on the national scandal of 1980s-style emigration from Ireland,
As part of a national campaign to shine a spotlight on the national scandal of 1980s-style emigration from Ireland, the Clonakilty Sinn Féin cumann has undertaken several initiatives in the last number of weeks.
Local Sinn Féin Councillor Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin succeeded in passing a motion at the April meeting of Clonakilty Town Council calling for the relevant town agencies to come together to tackle the ongoing problem of job losses and explore imaginative ways to create new jobs, especially for the under-25s.
Meanwhile, cumann members launched a petition on the streets of Clonakilty over several days. Hundreds of people signed specially designed postcards addressed to the Taoiseach calling for immediate action to address the serious issue and consequences of growing unemployment. The postcards, along with thousands of others signed around the country, will be handed in to the Taoiseach’s office at the end of this week.

Sinn Féin Councillor Cora Harvey and party colleagues in Ballybofey, County Donegal, at the weekend taking signatures for their postcard campaign