Bias against the west of Ireland and favouritism towards the east is evident in the Government’s decision to “indefinitely suspend” work on the final completion of the Western Rail corridor.
This is the view of Labour party president and Galway West TD Michael D Higgins who said the suspension of works was “very disappointing”.
“It shows a clear bias favouring infrastructural development in the eastern part of the country over the west,” he said. “The Government’s revised spending plan continues brutal cuts in rural areas while spending plans for Dublin and its surrounding area appear to be protected.”
Dep Higgins said the evidence of bias towards the east is shown by the fact that the Western Rail Corridor between Claremorris and Tuam is to be suspended while the Metro North project in Dublin, “a far more expensive venture”, is to go ahead.
“All of Ireland is suffering in the current recession,” said Dep Higgins, “but yet again, under the Fianna Fáil-Green government, some parts of the country are more equal than others, and the west of Ireland is to be the poor relation again.”
