Article: Cowen must act on economy now or all Celtic Tiger gains may be lost; Cowen on tour: Aquick pint-no time to even let it settle.

IRELANDS economic downturncouldswellthedole queues to 300,000 people, formerFine Gael minister Ivan Yates claimed yesterday.

Almost200,000workersor 5.5 per cent of the workforce were unemployed at the end of April.

But Mr Yates, whose Celtic Book-makersfirmemploys310people, warned that the Live Register could reach pre-Celtic Tiger levelsagain.

He claimed the Government was in denialabout the seriousness of the problem.

Mr Yates, who was agriculture minister from 1994-1997 told TV3s The PoliticalParty: For about a year now Ihave noticed that buoyancy had gone out of the economy.

Ireallythinkthatthereisthe prospectof300,000peopleunemployed. ...

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