Government warned to invest in the west – or brace itself for unrest

The Government has been warned to prioritise economic development in Galway and the west – or risk the prospect of social unrest.

The new Cabinet which meets this week faces renewed political and lobby group pressure to put the development of rural communities across the West of Ireland at the heart of policy.

Among the recommendations is provide an economic stimulus package to help struggling rural towns in the west to “get off their feet”.

The Council for the West has demanded that An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and his colleagues, tackle balanced regional development “as a matter of extreme urgency”.

The group’s rally call for rural Ireland echoes the sentiments of Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív, who separately has accused Government of “neglecting areas of disadvantage throughout the country, as part of a wider policy of indifference to rural Ireland.”

The Fianna Fáil Connemara TD was scathing of the Government’s attitude to rural communities and accused it of having a “completely negative view of those living in areas with a high concentration of poverty and social exclusion”.

The Council for the West has called on Government to implement “as a matter of extreme urgency” recommendations made by a commission established to promote economic development in rural areas.

The report by the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA), chaired by Kerry football legend and broadcaster Pat Spillane, features a 38-point strategy to guide medium-term economic development in rural areas until 2025.

“We badly need balanced regional development and the CEDRA report puts it on the national agenda,” said Sean Hannick, chairperson of Council of the West.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.