Trade Union leader says Connemara ingenuity will see them beat recession

Date Published: 21-Oct-2009

The innovation and ingenuity of the Connemara people would not only see them survive this recession but would see them showing others the way.
Former MEP and trade union chief Des Geraghty was speaking at a Careers Fair in the Connemara Coast Hotel, which was attended by 600 people made up of the unemployed who were investigating new job prospects or wanting to return to full-time education and some secondary school pupils from Cois Fharraige and the Aran Islands.
Mr Geraghty, who was President of SIPTU from 1999 to 2004 and a member of the European Parliament for two years in the early nineties as a replacement for Prionsias de Rossa , said he had worked with many Connemara people both in the United States and in England and he never knew them to be idle.
He said they were always innovative and always knew how to show the way, through their entrepreneural spirit. “I would be confident that Connemara people certainly know how to survive this economic crisis and not only that but will go on to develop new businesses and inspire others to do the same.”
Mr Geraghty is currently on the board of Fás and is chairman of the Affordable Housing Association.
The event, organised by MSG Teo, a local development company, also had the purpose of showcasing new businesses. Among the 30 stands were ones manned by the Irish Army and the Gardaí Siochana and organisers noted that these two stands were particularly popular with schoolgoers.
But one man who impressed was Mick Nee, who was involved in the building trade and has reinvented himself as a gardener, but one with a difference. He is offering his own gardening knowledge and skills to help people be self-sufficient in their own gardens. He will plant, sow and show how but he will also teach people how to set up a hen house or maintain a kitchen garden.
The organisers were delighted with the success of the day and vowed to organise another one next year to cater for the demands of those who are unemployed or who wished to changed careers.