No jobs in Dublin?

AN UNEMPLOYED FATHER of five has spent the last five days walking for hours up and down the road at Newland’s Cross wearing a sign around his neck – and says he won’t stop until he gets a job.

Brendan Coleman has spent all of his working life employed in the sales sector and after losing his job last year he found he was unable to find new employment.

Just like myself he has tried “all the conventional” means of applying for jobs, including online and the national papers, “to no avail”. 

Has this Wexford man lost the plot? 'No', and I say no because I have applied to jobs and reached out to companies in Dublin amounting to over 90 now.

Coleman, who is in his fifties, wears a sign that has his mobile number on it and the lines:

To all employers – prove to me that you don’t age discriminate – employ me! I have 20 years sales experience.

It seems that if you are hard working, apply left, right and center you will not find a job. For Coleman it may be age, for others it may be too much experience. These are all lines we receive day in, day out from companies. I am lucky, I received a lot of support from my family, but this man has his own family to support. Thank God I don't have that. I have for the past while been living on 188 euro, I have a mortgage,maintenance fees and bills, I owe money to the amount of approx 6000 Euro.

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Since Monday, Coleman has driven from Wexford to Newland’s Cross, where he takes up his position at 9am on a narrow concrete strip near traffic lights. Surrounding him are about eight lanes of traffic. He stays there, walking up and down, until at least 3.30pm.

“It’s not easy. This is not simple,” he said. “”It’s not nice. It’s about keeping positive. It’s not saying ‘I’m not going to bother’.”

I've worked all my life. If I’m honest, yeah it was a culture shock not to be working. I wanted to be working. Many people in Ireland or anywhere else are happy not to work, but its not in my blood. Dublin is starting to bore me, depress me and make me want to give up hope or faith that I will get a job.

My days are spent applying for jobs, I have no money to go or do anything. I can completely understand why people get down or depressed about this, the only hope I do have is I'm not alone, many Irish people can not find work? My answer is... I give it until the end of Jan 2014, after which I will have to pack my bags and leave like a lot of people my age.... I wish this man and the people that have the hope to try keep the hope......