More than 100 people have lost their jobs in three Gaeltacht areas this evening as Scottish mortgage broker, Contact 4 announced it is closing down call centre operations in the regions with immediate effect.
Údarás na Gaeltachta confirmed Contact 4 is closing its centres in Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal, An Daingean, Co Kerry and Acaill, Co Mayo, with the loss of 108 jobs.
Contact 4 says its decision to close down its Irish operations was motivated by the dramatic slump in the mortgage market and the consumer-lending business in the UK, leaving it with no choice but to close all three offices.
The total number of employees affected by today's announcement include 34 jobs (26 full-time, 8 part-time) lost to Gaoth Dobhair, 38 jobs in An Daingean and 36 in Acaill.
The Scottish firm, with headquarters in Paisley, is also downsizing its Glasgow office where 50 people are set to lose their jobs.
However Údarás na Gaeltachta said it is confident of finding replacement business for the three Gaeltacht centres as the issue is to do with market forces rather than any problem with operations in the Gaeltacht regions.
The agency said Contact 4 had successfully demonstrated that call centres can operate effectively from a Gaeltacht area.
Fine Gael spokesman on Gaeltacht Affairs and Donegal South West TD Dinny McGinley said the job losses in Gaoth Dobhair were a "major blow" to a region that had seen the loss of approximately 1,000 jobs over the last five years.
Appealing to Údarás na Gaeltachta to make the matter a central issue at its board meeting in Galway tomorrow, he also called on the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Éamon Ó Cuív to "get involved and try and to retrieve these badly needed jobs in Co Donegal".