There has been a 13 per cent rise in the number of people unemployed in Louth in the last 12 months, and Drogheda, which the census identified as the largest provincial town in Ireland, is an unemployment blackspot, with a jump of 20 per cent on last year.
"This is a crazy situation that needs highlighting. The net employment in Drogheda has decreased rapidly," said ATGWU secretary, Mr Patsy Stone, at this month's meeting of the local Trades Council.
There were 8,086 people unemployed in Louth at the end of August, an increase of 1,100 on the same time last year. While Dundalk has 3,860 people on the live register compared to 3,307 in Drogheda, an additional 693 people or 20 per cent more are out of work in Drogheda compared to the last year.
In the month of August 82 people added their names to the live register. "This means there are 82 families left in a grim situation. The number unemployed in Drogheda now is still about twice the national average and it has been consistently high even during the recent 'good times'," said the Trades Council chairman, Donnacha MacRaghnail.
A delegation from the Irish Glass Bottle addressed the meeting and got full support for a national day of protest being organised by trades councils across the country for October 4th.