West=On=Track -
News
The Western Rail Corridor
and IDA Jobs
23rd June
2003
PRESS RELEASE - Mayo Association
Dublin
"It is important for the survival of County Mayo that
it's current political leaders fight tooth and nail for
national companies to move to Mayo instead of the reverse
flow that took place throughout the twentieth century" quote
taken from the editorial of the Mayo Association Yearbook
2002, and launched in Dec 2001.
It has recently been announced that the West lost jobs
last year when employment increased in all other areas of
Ireland. The reason stated by the IDA was because the West
did not have adequate infrastructure. It is quite evident,
plain and straightforward: the infrastructure must be there
before we can attract jobs!
The Mayo and western political leaders should positively
lobby and use their influence to promote the reopening of
the Sligo - Limerick Western Rail Corridor. This
association sees this as a realistic and positive jolt to
business activity in the inland areas of the west; and a
real opportunity to further market Ireland by offering
special rail holidays to attract backpackers etc. In
addition it would take heavy vehicles off our roads and save
millions on road repairs. The Minister for Transport, Mr
Seamus Brennan and his colleague Eamonn O Cuiv, the Minister
for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands have lent
their support to this initiative.
The western politicians, local Chambers of Commerce and
Town Committees, County Councils will be pushing against an
open door. Full credit and thanks is due to The Western
Inter-County Railway Committee under the current
chairmanship of Michael Mac Greil for giving us two seats at
the Cabinet Table. What a kick start!
The Mayo Association Dublin lends it's full support to
this venture: some of whose members from east Mayo fondly
remember visits to St John's Castle on National School
excursions to Limerick during the last days of the
commercial Irish steam engines in the 1950s and early
sixties; they also collected goods from the train for use in
their family businesses.
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