Dr. Ronnie O’Toole has a piece on page 13 of the Business supplement of todays Independent in which he says,
"Two out of five men outside of the Dublin commuter belt work either on construction sites or farms. In many counties, this figure is likely to be substantially higher. These industries will haemmorhage around 50,000 jobs in the years to come.
The live register figures released earlier this month show that this has already begun. The number of males signing on in the midlands has jumped 21% in the last 12 months, while the figure is 15% in the West."
I dont have access to a link. The article basically bemoans the lack of any alternative to construction in the regions, following that industry having sucked most of the younger generation of farmers away from farming. He basically says that effected regions are in for a world of pain unless radical alternatives are found quick.
And here is a large source of Ireland’s economic problems. Trying to engineer outcomes. My estimations of M. O’toole as an economist are slipping already.
I couldn’t tell you, me being only a humble engineer but If they stop eating ham and drinking lemonade then I’d invest in old age homes as we’ll all live a lot longer, ham and soft drink causes cancer apparently. They’re the new cigarettes
