Sir, - I wholeheartedly concur with Dr Bonar's plea for Dungloe and Donegal (September 11th). A similar case can be made for so many towns here, east and west, which would benefit significantly from even a modest number of jobs. Here in Inishowen the future is bleak with the prospect of massive job losses in Fruit of the Loom, the only major industry in the area. This is the largest multinational employer in the country and the repercussions for the 28,000 people on the peninsula are obvious. Yet even before the latest announcements, Donegal unenviably was recognised as one of the poorest counties in Ireland . The Combat Poverty study in 1996 reported that `disadvantage is most prevalent in Donegal and Mayo. . .and also extensive in the border counties of Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan." The North-Western Health Board has the highest rate of medical card entitlement in the Republic - a 50 per cent uptake, compared with 35 per cent generally. Yet despite all information available to them, successive governments have failed abjectly to respond to Donegal's needs. In this Internet age, Donegal's isolation is mainly in the mind-set of those who govern us. Our country is only a tiny island after all. - Yours, etc., Dr Don McGinley,
Moville, Co Donegal.