Addressing regional imbalance and reversing rural decline will be the focus of two public meetings being hosted by Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands Northwest, Chris MacManus later this month.
The first event, taking place in Glenties Community Centre in Co. Donegal on Monday, November 13, will be addressed by Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty, Councillor Marie Therese Gallagher and representatives from local community organisations.
The second meeting is scheduled for An Chroí, Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo on Wednesday, November 15.
This meeting will feature contributions from Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) president Vincent Roddy, community activist Donna Hyland and local community organisations.
Meetings
Chris MacManus has encouraged the public to attend the meetings and to join the discussion on delivering change for the west and northwest region.
“Over the past number of decades our region has suffered from neglect and a lack of opportunities for those of us who live here, particularly for our young people, ” he said.
“The EU’s downgrading of the northern and western region in recent years to being a lagging region and one ‘in transition’ highlights the urgency of addressing this problem.
“We need positive discrimination for the region to turn this around and revitalize the economy in the West.
“The only thing that will reverse this decline is major investment in infrastructure and public services.
“I have been calling for Cohesion funding, State Aid flexibility, the billion euro allocation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the Brexit Fund to be used to offer a ready-made investment package to provide for this,” the MEP added.
MacManus said that this is “no doubt that the current approach to regional development needs to change urgently in order to ensure that this part of the country has a sustainable future”.
The Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) has previously called on the government to provide a stimulus package worth €570 million to “kickstart development” in western and northern counties.
The NWRA said that the funding is needed to save the regions from “economic stagnation”.
It added that a Citizens’ Assembly should be established to examine how greater levels of regional autonomy can be delivered in Ireland.
The NWRA represents counties Donegal; Sligo; Leitrim; Mayo; Galway; Roscommon; Cavan; and Monaghan.