West held back by poor rail and roads

POOR roads and railways are holding back the economic growth of the West, according to the Western Development Commission (WDC).

At the launch of its annual report in Sligo yesterday, the WDC outlined positive developments such as community wind farms and ‘green’ tourism involving walks and organic restaurants, for the West.

But it was “very concerned” about €644 million of unspent funding for the seven western counties: Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Clare. Of the €1,570m allocated to the region under the first three years of the National Development Plan, only €926m was actually spent.

“I know there was foot and mouth and September 11, but that is not enough to account for €644m of under-spending. We were very disappointed that the National Roads Authority did not announce one single new project for the West,” chief executive Lisa McAllister said.

Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cuív announced yesterday that the WDC will carry out an infrastructure study on towns not designated as hubs under the National Spatial Strategy.

The WDC will direct its efforts at rural towns close to major roadways, airports such as Knock and Sligo and the proposed Western Rail Corridor. “It’s about seeing what they need in terms of road and rail infrastructure and trying to position them as attractive areas for decentralisation,” Ms McAllister said

The WDC helped develop a website last year, www.trueIreland.com, to promote rural areas often ignored by tourists. It has begun a pilot wind farm project in Donegal and Mayo, which has the local community as its main investor. The WDC believes this could be a profitable model for the communities in the West to exploit their reserves of renewable energy.

The WDC said its venture capital fund was successfully providing finance for projects ignored by the banking sector. The Western Investment Fund has approved 3.4m funding for 17 projects across the seven counties. The Delphi Adventure Centre in Connemara received a grant to build a 22-bedroom luxury Mountain Lodge and Spa and the co-op on the Arainn Mhór island off Donegal received a loan of €20,000 to buy a mini-oil tanker to service households.

The WDC said rail services on lines such as Dublin/Sligo, Dublin/Westport and Limerick/Ennis were being upgraded with continuous welded rail. “That has made a huge difference but they’re still in desperate need of improvement. The rolling stock is appalling. A businessman leaving Sligo in the morning won’t be in Dublin until 10.30am and that’s just too late,” Ms McAllister said.

Minister Éamon Ó Cuív also released details of the CLAR program for underpopulated areas. Around 41 small businesses have got €331,033 to upgrade their electricity supplies.