This must be the bleakest moment for the employees of the Fruit of the Loom operations since the business was started by the McCarter family in 1932. The Tanaiste, Ms Mary Harney, visited the plants yesterday in an effort to minimise the imminent job losses but, in reality, the redundancies will be determined by the company's management and they will be influenced primarily by market forces. There are 700 jobs involved in the manufacture of Tshirts; it is certain that some will go, it is possible that they will all go. Average wages run at £225 per week but in the company's Moroccan subsidiary they can be as low as £35 per week. Fruit of the Loom is losing market share because its production costs exceed those of its competitors. It is a question of when, not if, it will relocate its labour-intensive operations to lower-cost countries.
No matter how strong the economy performs, there will be an attrition rate each year of about five per cent. These jobs will usually be lost in low-skilled, labour-intensive industries supplying volatile markets. And it occurs in new industries as much as in traditional ones. The trick is to gradually upgrade industrial employment. Analog Devices in Limerick used have most of its employees on basic assembly work; now over 60 per cent is engaged in highly-skilled production. The computer industry is going through turmoil; wafer fabrication plants used to be much sought after by development authorities throughout the world but now there are closures almost weekly.
If Donegal's job losses run to 700, it will be devastating for the families involved and the local economy. It will also deal a blow to border counties which have not matched the economic and employment growth enjoyed in other parts of the country. The problem is not just Northern Ireland's peace process, it is also accessibility and infrastructure. The Tanaiste has announced the setting up of a Donegal-wide enterprise initiative to determine ways of attracting more industry to the county. The first priority must be to remove the obstacles to setting up in Donegal. Access is appalling. Donegal's airport for foreign visitors is Belfast because its own airport gets no support and Derry airport has declined. Donegal's roads are poor. An overseas customer seeking a meeting with a Donegal manufacturer could take two days to get there and back while he could fly into a Dublin meeting early morning and fly out again at lunchtime. The difficulty of getting customers in is matched only by the difficulty of getting products out. Time is money but Donegal's port is Larne. Infrastructural needs also extend to power supplies. If a heavy user of electricity was to set up in Donegal, it would not get sufficient constant supply. Ever since Northern Ireland Electricity decided against the inter-connector, Donegal has been under-powered.
Donegal can respond to the challenge. It has a young, educated population and it has vibrant urban areas awaiting opportunity. One such is Letterkenny but, at present, four-fifths of its RTC graduates disappear as soon as they qualify. Letterkenny has opened a new industrial site aimed at providing shared services; call centres, data entry, processing. It could work; telecommunications are not a problem. Donegal's future - and that of other border counties - can be assured if the Government would remove the obstacles to industry.