DEVELOPMENT HALTED:MORE THAN 50 construction staff working on a €22 million extension were refused access to Letterkenny General Hospital in Co Donegal yesterday morning when they arrived for work due to the appointment of a receiver to Michael McNamara and Company.

Most of the work on the extension in Letterkenny, which consists of a three-floor medical unit and a new Accident and Emergency Unit, is already complete.

However, workers arriving at the site were met by security staff who had been posted at the entrance on High Road early yesterday morning.

A security van was pulled across the entrance to the site in an attempt to prevent sub-contractors from entering.

However, angry workers managed to get past security and removed many of their personal tools which they had been using.

One security guard was jostled and his mobile phone was taken off him and thrown onto the ground.

One angry worker outside the hospital said he was owed more than €4,000.

“That’s the second time I have been stung. I am still awaiting money for a job I did in Cork.

“The ways things are going now, we would have to get our money up front because we don’t know when a developer is going to go to the wall,” he said.

Local Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty said the legal wrangle must not obstruct the opening of the unit.

But Fianna Fáil Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill said there was no question the new hospital extension would be completed.

“I have received assurances from Government that all the building projects on site in Letterkenny General Hospital will be completed.

“The money has been set aside for these projects and they will be finished.

“This new unit is a priority for the people of Donegal. I and the Government are committed to ensuring that it will be delivered,” he said.