Ireland is facing a severe economic threat, and its population must rally together to prevent a national disaster, a leading trade unionist said today.
Senator Joe O'Toole, ICTU Vice President and INTO General Secretary, said that Irish people had a duty to holiday at home in order to prop up the ailing tourism trade, which had suffered greatly due to the foot-and-mouth crisis.
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"The great surge of patriotic commitment which emerged to unify us in our fight to prevent a foot-and-mouth epidemic must now be maintained and directed towards protecting our threatened economy," he said in his May Day message.
The Irish economy was under threat from a number of factors, including the downturn in the US market, inflationary trends, demands to cut the eurointerest rate, as well asthe effects of foot-and-mouth, Mr O’Toole said.
"Unfortunately, this time, disinfectant mats will not be enough toprotect us from the international, financial malaise. We could,however, help by keeping the movement of our money to within the economy andspending more of it at home."
The Irish tourism industry stands out as the sector facing the greatest difficulty, Mr O’Toole said, saying that this situation was a "wake up call to the industry to get real about their pricing".
"Too often we hear that the cost of a family holiday in Ireland is far more expensive than a foreign holiday in the sun. The industry must make an Irish holiday financially viable for families," he said.
