Candidates faced with Western demands

Helen Mortimer reports from the West Infrastructure Now meeting in Knock,where political support was sought for thekey priorities identified by the WesternDevelopment Commission to help addressinfrastructural deficit in the West of Ireland.

The Government can develop all the national plans it wants but, unless it invests money in the infrastructure necessary in railways, roads, energy, and information technology, there is no hope for us in the West of Ireland'.

This was the message from Bishop Christopher Jones at a recent meeting in Knock Airport, organised by West Infrastructure Now (WIN).

Among the attendance were Mayo politicians and election candidates who were asked to support the key priorities identified by the Western Development Commission to help address the infrastructural deficit.

The meeting heard that €780 million was needed over five years in addition to the National Development Plan (NDP). This figure was described as paltry in comparison with the €3 billion over and above the NDP which has been committed to Dublin's Metro and LUAS projects.

No Mayo town was included in the recent announcement of western towns to receive gas. The common denominator among those towns nominated to receive gas, Enfield, Athlone, Clara, Tullamore, Oranmore and Craughwell, is their location in the constituencies of senior Cabinet Ministers.

United campaign

According to Bishop Jones, the biggest factor mitigating against the communities in the West is the absence of people at the Cabinet table to speak for them. Therefore, he was calling for a united political campaign to secure fair treatment from the NDP and the additional funding called for in the 'State of the West' report compiled by the Western Development Commission. Marc MacSharry, representing the 12-member United Chambers of Commerce, endorsed Bishop Jones's call for cross-party political co-operation to deliver the WIN agenda. He called on all politicians in the West to defy party whips if necessary in order to put the West first.

Now or never

Marian Harkin, Independent candidate for Sligo/Leitrim said it was 'now or never' if the infrastructure needed to make the West competitive was to be delivered.

Fine Gael was represented by Jim Higgins, Enda Kenny, Michael Ring and Senator Ernie Caffrey, who pledged their full support for the WIN campaign.

Dr Jerry Crowley, an independent candidate, also supported the campaign and said he was standing for election in the belief that if the necessary health services and infrastructure were not delivered during the period of the NDP, Mayo would not be in a position to compete for jobs and development.

Una Quinn, fighting for Tom Fox's seat in Co Roscommon, agreed that huge investment in infrastructure was vitally important to put this region on the map in terms of competitiveness.

Senator Frank Chambers, Fianna Fail, emphasised that enormous changes had taken place in Co Mayo and substantial progress had been made during this Government's term of office.

He reminded the meeting that this was also the first Government to invest in the BMW region and concluded with the remark that he supported 'the gist and the content' of the campaign.

Michael Holmes, another independent, and Billy Heffron, Progressive Democrats, fully supported the WIN infrastructure package, with Heffron prepared to defy the party whip if necessary.

Ann Crowley, Green Party, agreed that development was vital for Co Mayo, but she argued that this development needed to be sustainable.

Luke Flanagan, independent, Roscommon, said that the current infrastructure deficit was due to the poor performance of public representatives in the past. He contended that more independent candidates were needed.

The WIN campaign will have a pre-election meeting to consider the extent to which political parties and other candidates reflect commitment to the infrastructure proposals in their manifestos. Watch this space.