Donegal: Encyclopedia II - Donegal - Industry & Tourism

Donegal - Industry & Tourism

The town is very popular during the Summer months, and is a gateway to the southern part of County Donegal. There are many fine, sandy beaches in the area boasting some of the best surfing conditions in Western Europe. Donegal is also used as a base for hill-walking in the nearby Bluestack Mountains. Despite the towns many hotels catering for visitors, it suffers from a lack of social amenities for its local population. Many have to travel to nearby towns such as Ballyshannon or Letterkenny for facilities like public swimming pools, cinemas and large shopping centres.

Traditional the largest employer in the town has been Magee of Donegal. They are internationally known for their fine tweed garments, some of which can be seen being weaved by hand on small looms in the company's department store. Like most clothing manufacturers in Ireland, the size of the workforce has been in decline for many years. In 2005 it was announced that the town's largest employer, the U.S company Hospira, were closing down with the loss of 560 jobs. This was a huge blow to the town and it is estimated that it will cost the local economy 30m Euro.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Industry & Tourism", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki