Up to 8,000 building jobs in Galway lost in slump

Date Published: 09-Jun-2010

By Declan Tierney

A staggering 8,000 jobs have been lost in construction in County Galway over the past three years – as a direct result of the property collapse, according to those involved in the building industry.

During the boom years it is estimated that around 9,000 people were employed in the construction trade across the city and county but with only a trickle of building taking place at the moment, that figure is down to just over 1,000.

And those involved in the industry say that employment figures will not increase until the huge number of vacant new houses are sold or a major infrastructural project commences.

Some of the main building contractors in the city and county have been ‘comparing notes’ on the state of the state of the construction industry and are not hopeful of an upturn in the near future.

Tuam based building contractor, Tom McHugh told The Connacht Tribune that employment in the construction industry had fallen by around 88% since 2006 and 2007 when building was at its peak.

“From discussions with colleagues in the trade and figures that are available to us, we know that there are little more than one thousand people employed in the building trade across County Galway at the moment”, he said.

Read more in this week’s Connacht Tribune