Construction boss wants state incentives for community projects

Date Published: 09-Mar-2011

One of the leading figures in the construction industry in the west has called on the new Government to revive incentives for community development projects which could create 20,000 jobs nationwide.

Joe Byrne, the Regional Director of John Sisk and Son, said this week that grants for projects such as the redevelopment of GAA pitches and clubhouses would actually cost the State very little as they would keep people off the dole and generate taxation revenue.

Sisks, who are the largest construction firm in the country, have been forced to move many of their operations overseas due to the collapse of the industry over the past three years.

Mr Byrne, who is also the Chairman of the Galway Hurling Board, said that many of the young people who were leaving the country in droves would love to stay in Ireland if they were given a chance to work in their own communities.

He has called on the new coalition to provide incentives for firms to take on new graduates in order to halt the ‘brain drain’ which has decimated cities, towns, and villages throughout the land.

“Four players from the senior panel of my own club in Kinvara have emigrated,” he told the Connacht Tribune. “They would love to stay at home and work if there were jobs here for them. All they want to do is work and employers have to be given some encouragement. I am absolutely certain these guys want to live here and work here. It’s time to think outside the box.

“The worst part of my job over the last two years was to have to meet a guy and tell him that I did not have any work for him. We have trained our staff to emigrate and it makes no sense. A lot of contractors are not renewing their membership with the Construction Industry Federation and, just like in the GAA, there needs to be ‘joined up’ thinking on this.”

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.