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Cavan jobless numbers fall by 16% in a year

The headline that unemployment in Cavan has dipped by 16% in the last 12 months has received a mixed response from members of the public outside the county town's Intreo office, as reporter Thomas Lyons found out.

Intreo sits near the entrance of one of Cavan's most iconic landmarks, Kingspan Breffni Park. The park sponsors are one of the county's major employers and an improvement in their fortunes appears to reflect a better economic climate.
The State employment support service co-ordinates the Social Welfare services across the country. The snapshot provided by speaking to service users suggests that although, there is pressure to find work locally, there is a general improvement in available opportunities.
The number of people signing on the live register in Cavan decreasing by 16% in the last year mirrors a national trend. Overall, unemployment in Ireland has fallen steadily from a peak of 16% in 2012 to six per cent in March 2018.
A 29-year-old tradesman makes his way to the front door to engage with the service. “A job I was working on just came to an end, so I am going in to sign on,” he told the Celt. He says he's optimistic about finding work soon but there is a caveat to his upbeat attitude: “There's not much work in the building trade in Cavan and Monaghan at the moment. I will probably have to travel to Dublin.”
Though reluctant to give his name, he speaks freely about the employment situation: 
“Things have improved in the last few years, I do think they are going in the right direction.”
Susan Larkin is not as sure that things have improved as much as the statistics suggest. The stay-at-home mother from Kilnaleck is dropping in a cert to the Intreo office for a friend.
“I don’t think things are as good as the 16% increase suggests, there are a few more small jobs, but there hasn't been any big job announcements,” Susan says. 
Her husband is working but she mentions that she has friends who have not seen any change: “It's a difficult time for people looking for work.”
For 22-year-old Katrina, her search for work in the tourism sector has been unsuccessful over the last six months. She is at the Intreo service to assist in her hunt: 
“I am optimistic about finding work, but it is not easy. There are a lot of hotels in Cavan but I don't drive, so it is hard to find work. I have friends working in the hotel business, so I am hopeful that something will come up soon.”
The figures released this week suggest that, since the launch of the Action Plan in February 2012, the live register in Cavan has decreased by 49%. In numbers - that represents 3,566 people returning to employment in the county.

Positive
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, said that the figures show that 734 more people are back in work in the county: “On taking office I immediately identified jobs in the regions as a priority, and reiterated this at the recent launch of 2018’s Action Plan for Jobs at Monaghan Mushrooms.”
The Minister says accusations of imbalanced development are not born out by statistics: 
“Four out of every five jobs created in the past year were outside of Dublin. Unemployment has decreased in every region of the country since the current Government was formed in early 2016.”
She noted that some regions are falling behind. “While the unemployment figures for Cavan continue to be very positive, the Border region has traditionally seen slower recovery than others. I also want to ensure that businesses and budding entrepreneurs in places like Cavan are aware of the many State supports available to them.”