Cllr Michael Naughton
MORE THAN 30 people have been let go from their jobs at the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny as Donegal enters a level three lockdown.
The news was relayed to staff on Friday morning as the latest human effect of the coronavirus starts to impact.
Michael Naughton, general manager of the Clanree hotel, said the spread of the virus had left him with little option.
“This is the toughest part of the whole thing. It’s unfortunate that more than thirty people had to get that news today but hopefully there will be brighter days ahead and we can bring them all back whenever things improve,” he said.
The restrictions have had an immediate impact on tourism in Donegal with the cancellation of bookings at one of the county’s main hotels.
Confirming that the hotel will stay open, Mr Naughton said that they had been fully booked on both Saturday and Sunday nights.
“Numbers will now be down obviously for this weekend but it’s important that we see the glass half full and keep the lights on.
“We were pretty much booked out throughout the month of August and there were very few cases of the disease in the county and now the numbers have gone through the roof.
“We’ll need support from Government because we’ve lost a huge amount of weddings to Northern Ireland this summer. It hasn’t been easy but our health is the more important thing at this moment in time and we have to do all in our power to make sure that we get a handle on the virus,” Mr Naughton said.
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