New minister must heed Derry's jobless alarm bell: Eastwood

The new Enterprise Minister has been called on to ensure Derry gets its fair share of inward investment as the North's second city.

The call comes from Derry SDLP MLA Colm Eastwood (pictured) after the latest monthly labour market report showed the Foyle constituency remained at top of the table for unemployment benefit claimants.

A total of 5,072 people claimed job seeker's allowance in Foyle last month – more than 11% of the total number of claimants in the North.

Mr Eastwood said DETI Minister Jonathan Bell “has a duty” to do all in his department's power to drive Derry job creation and help reverse decades of economic neglect.

He said although the headlines stated unemployment levels were falling “month on month,” Derry was “far from being in recovery mode.”

He added: “Decades of economic neglect have left our city at the wrong end of the unemployment tables year on year.

“Derry is not experiencing anywhere near the decrease in job seekers allowance claimants seen elsewhere in the North.

“I call on the new Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment to ensure that job creation in Derry is top of his priority list.

“It is vital that Mr Bell and his colleagues in the Executive commit to delivering for our city.

“They must maximise efforts to rebalance the North's economy through the development of a thriving regional capital in the North West.”