Cowen delivers ... a blow to Parlon
In an escalation of the PR battle in the constituency previously known as Laois-Offaly, the Minister for Foreign Affairs sent press releases to local papers on Tuesday stamping his name to nine specific projects to be announced the next day.
This enabled the Tullamore Tribune, Offaly Express and Midland Tribune to feature prominent stories yesterday, giving credit to Mr Cowen for lobbying Education Minister Noel Dempsey for the
local slice of the 387 million school-funding pie.
Progressive Democrats Junior Minister Parlon claimed direct personal responsibility for 965 public sector jobs being decentralised to the midlands. His rapidly-produced leaflets and the erection of signs on the county boundaries sparked fury within Fianna Fáil.
While Mr Dempsey only published the school building programme yesterday morning, Mr Cowen jumped the gun and divulged details to his local papers on Tuesday, as they were going to press before the official announcement but would not hit the streets until after it.
Despite Fianna Fáil playing politics with school building funds the party told schools all over the country they would get funding prior to the last general election, only to withdraw the offers later Mr Dempsey yesterday threatened to withhold funding from schools which kept children out of class in protest at substandard conditions.
The 2004 School Building Programme was not passed by Cabinet and nobody knew the details before yesterday morning, according to Mr Dempsey.
The general reaction was positive as to how the record spending on school improvements and new buildings will be allocated.
However, politicians and teachers sent out a clear message to the Government that the funding must be sustained to rid the country of dilapidated schools.
The plan includes 100m for 170 major projects to begin construction next year, among them 20 new primary schools and 13 new second-level buildings.
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