Westport grits teeth as cuts take their toll
WESTPORT, with its smart streets, lively pubs and stunning scenery, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.
The Mayo town has a direct rail link to Dublin, a host of community organisations and a recently built industrial park.
But the grim reality is that one in five of its 5,000 population is now on the dole.
The numbers on the live register have risen 94pc, from 627 to 1,154.
The local chamber of commerce says that's due to several factors -- including a drop in tourist numbers and a subsequent drop in sales in many retail outlets.
Westport Chamber of Commerce president Simon Cronin said retailers had been quick to introduce cutbacks in the face of the economic recession. He also said local hoteliers would have previously given their staff extended holidays over the quiet winter season.
"This year what's happened is that you're probably getting forced redundancies, or forced three-day weeks," he said.
There have also been major job losses in recent years -- the Portwest clothing factory last February (22 jobs gone); the Field Boxmore Healthcare Packing plant, in July 2007 (42 jobs gone); and Allergan Pharmaceuticals in 2004 (325 jobs gone and 750 left).
Campaign
There has been a long-running campaign to upgrade the N5 road linking the town to Castlebar, but even before the economic recession hit, it wasn't due to begin until 2011.
Mayo County Council had imposed planning restrictions on Westport to protect its heritage status as one of only two planned towns in the country.
But towards the end of the building boom, there were still several large housing developments and there was also a large stock of holiday homes.
So the unemployment rate among local builders has risen and there are around 250 homes for sale in the town on the daft.ie property website and another 40 available to rent.
Mr Cronin said the unemployment in Westport was becoming an issue.
"People aren't too negative, but they are concerned," he said.
But Westport has recovered before from far more serious events -- its population was devastated by the Great Famine and its traditional industries of port-based shipping and linen manufacturing were both wiped out over time.
It recovered by reinventing itself as a tourist destination and a location for large and medium-sized manufacturers.
Mr Cronin said the town had received a €500,000 grant to build a new enterprise centre and was trying to get its existing broadband network upgraded to attract new IT companies.
- Michael Brennan
