I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity of raising this important matter to Glenties and to County Donegal. I should like to congratulate the Minister of State, in her new capacity, for showing an interest in the matter and for being present in the House.
The closure of McDevitts knitwear factory with the loss of 53 jobs last weekend is a devastating blow to the town of Glenties and the surrounding area. McDevitts knitwear factory has been operating and providing employment in this part of Donegal for well over 100 years. It has sustained and supported many families for four or five generations. Last Friday's announcement was the latest if not the final fatal blow to industrial employment in the Glenties area. Over a number of years the town has lost almost all of its employment sources. Bord na Móna, who were major employers, have ceased operations there and only a small number of their former employees who formed a company are employed there now. Coillte Teoranta's operations in the Glenties area are almost at a standstill. A number of other employers have also ceased to operate. Apart from catering and service jobs, up until last weekend one could say that McDevitts provided the only industrial employment in the area. Regretfully, they have now ceased to operate.
The people of the town were shocked and devastated by the announcement last weekend and they found it impossible to understand how an industry with a long tradition and all the ingredients for success had simply closed down. The workforce of the factory are skilled and committed, the quality of the product they produce is second to none and there is a continuous demand for it. However, there have been 53 extra people on the unemployment register in Glenties since Monday morning. Many of them are young people. Some of them are just married, are building homes and starting their families. Many have mortgage repayments and other financial commitments to meet. What future do they have other than life on the dole or, perhaps, even emigration?
Glenties is one of the best known of all County Donegal towns. The Minister of State is a regular visitor to Glenties. Glenties has achieved the singular distinction of being the overall winner in the national Tidy Towns Competition on four separate occasions. That must be a record. It has also been immortalised in the writings of Patrick McGill, in whose honour the McGill Summer School is held every year. I know the Minister fully understands the significance of this to Donegal, having been a regular attender at that school. To add further to its litany of glories, Glenties is the town which inspired Brian Friel's masterpiece "Dancing at Lughnasa", a play which has been hailed not alone in Glenties and Dublin but also in the West End and Broadway.
County Donegal has the highest per capita unemployment rate in the country and Glenties must have one of the highest per capita unemployment rates in County Donegal. This town is in urgent need of attention and action by the job creating agencies of the State. I believe McDevitts knitwear factory has a future. A capital injection would be sufficient to get this factory operating again. The crafts and skills of the workers, which have been accumulated by workers over generations, must not be allowed to disperse. I appeal to the Minister to get in touch with the IDA and arrange a package of help or assistance which will enable this long established industry to re-open.
Glenties is on the edge of the Gaeltacht. It may not be part of the official Gaeltacht but I put it to the Minister that as much Irish is spoken in the shops, businesses and houses of Glenties as there is in many Gaeltacht towns. Perhaps Údarás na Gaeltachta or Roinn na Gaeltachta could be of some assistance as well. This town is bereft of employment and it needs attention urgently. I hope the Minister will do something positive about this in the near future.