Covid related lockdown restrictions were cited as the primary factors leading to a fall off in employment in the Múscraí Gaeltacht during 2020.
So said Údarás na Gaeltachta s Regional Manager for Munster, Dónal Ó Liatháin, as he commented on the Gaeltacht development agency s annual statement for 2020 which was published this week.
According to an employment survey carried out during November in the Gaeltacht regions, there were 664 people employed in Údarás na Gaeltachta supported companies in the Cork Gaeltacht - comprising Múscraí and Oileán Cléire/Cape Clear - at that time. This was a drop of 35 jobs on the 2019 figure of 699. The fall off would have been greater were it not for the creation of 23 new jobs in the region.