A TOTAL of 170 people were made redundant in Co. Kilkenny last month, according to new figures released by the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association (ISME).
This compares to to just 65 in the same month last year, meaning the number of people losing their jobs has increased by 162% in the past year.
This makes Kilkenny the reduncancy blackspot in Ireland, with the highest rate of job losses in 2009.
There were no major industry or factory closures in Kilkenny in January, suggesting that all those people lost their jobs in small or medium-sized businesses.
The ISME said that the situation was 'dire' with 335 people being made redundant every day so far this year.
They said there was no let-up in sight and things would continue to worsen.
"The Country is in a state of flux, with 335 redundancies a day already being announced, following on from a disastrous 2009. Small business owners are indicating that this situation will deteriorate further, with many companies just about hanging on by their fingernails, unless economic conditions improve," ISME chief executive Mark Fielding said.
After Kilkenny, the rate of redundancy growth in Co. Limerick was the next highest. 999 people lost their jobs there last month, compared to 499 in January 2009 - a growth rate of 144%.
Things were also bad in Co. Waterford, where the number of redunacies grew from 86 to 205 - a growth rate of 138%.
Co. Monaghan escaped lightly, wiyth just 26 job losses in January this year, after 75 at the same time last year.
