[Article] Manufacturing employment falling steadily in Ireland

Cork

the closure of the Green Isle Fish Processing Plant in the County Roscommon Town.

“The most frustrating element is that fish are being caught off the West Coast of Ireland, but instead of completing the final processing of the ‘Donegal Catch’ product in Boyle it will now be taken to Britain, with the final product brought back to Ireland for sale in supermarkets

"Donegal Catch" is one of the biggest Irish success stories.

So much Irish manaufacturing is going or gone.

You can have all the r+d you want - but this country has become uncompetitive.

What is more Irish people are buying greater and greater amounts of imported food.

I think alarm bells are ringing for the entire manufacturing sector.

Diaspora

I think that if the cost base is carefully managed there is no reason why the more knowledge based and value added manufacturing cannot survive.

However the mis-management of the economy as evidenced by 4.2% inflation is costing jobs and is in stark contrast to Countries like France that despite high energy prices have held inflation below 2%

French growth rate strongest since 2000
By Peggy Hollinger in Paris

Published: August 11 2006 14:10 | Last updated: August 11 2006 14:10

France on Friday delivered its strongest economic growth in almost six years, bolstering hopes for a revival in industrial investment and an accelerating drop in the country's crippling unemployment problem in the coming months.

Strong consumer spending and buoyant industrial production helped France boost gross domestic product grow by 1.1-1.2 per cent in the second quarter, according to advance figures from Insee, the national statistics office, against just 0.5 per cent in the first three months. The figure was significantly ahead of expectations of just 0.8 per cent growth and was accompanied by steady inflation at 1.9 per cent.