Ireland is facing its worst economic crisis since World War II. Yet the Government is floundering in a sea of incompetence, totally bereft of ideas and imagination.
Castlebar is one of the victims of this incompetence with the number of unemployed soaring weekly. The business park on the Breaffy Road, on which huge sums of money have been spent on maintenance, is a monument to the neglect of Castlebar by the Fianna Fáil Government and its representatives in the area.
Savage Government cutbacks in its roads allocation to Mayo will put the jobs of many workers in jeopardy. Many of those workers have acquired skills which have been used to the benefit of our county over the years. The highway between Bohola and Westport is a big joke. Millions of euro have been spent on designing this roadway and the reality is that it will probably never see the light of day, not in the near future at any rate.
In Castlebar alone a cut of half a million euro means that major improvements for the town and surrounding areas have had to be abandoned. A new traffic management system at the junction of the Mall and Mountain View has been given the chop. Likewise a major resurfacing of the Pontoon Road in the town has also been scrapped. The proposed relief road between Newport Road, connecting with the old Westport Road, has also been abandoned.
Perhaps the meanest cut of all has been the decision by the Government to scrap the bonus payment to pensioners, the people who built up this country in the past. Children’s allowances are also threatened.
When Eamon Gilmore, leader of the Labour Party, visited Castlebar to launch his candidates he also met local business people. They pleaded with him that some sort of stimulus would be given to them to boost their businesses, a cut in the VAT rate, for example. It was a cry from the heart. Those businesses have been excellent employers over the years as well as supporting local voluntary organisations, yet they have been totally deserted by the Government.
Castlebar is a wonderful town with outstanding educational, social and sporting amenities. It is a town of which we can all be proud. Its educational facilities are of the highest standard and each year turn out students who can more than hold their own with students from other parts of the country. One has only to look at the outstanding successes of students from Davitt College, St Gerald’s Secondary School and St Joseph’s Secondary School. It is the same with local national schools where pupils are taught by highly motivated staffs who always have the best interests of their students at heart.
The abolition of third level college fees has given the opportunity to all our students to pursue university courses. This is one way of cherishing all the children of our nation equally. However, the threat to third level free education is now causing great distress and worry to many parents. There is a cloud hanging over them as a result of threats to bring back fees made by Batt O’Keeffe, Minister for Education.
The loss of the cancer care unit at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar has caused great worry to people suffering from cancer. Taking patients to Galway for treatment is a cruel way of dealing with those people. Women feel they have been let down by our Fianna Fáil TDs in Mayo.
The forthcoming European and local elections are the most important in the history of our country. It is vital that we elect people of integrity and commitment. The worthless catch cries of the past are an insult and mean very little to a new generation of voters.
It is important that we use our vote wisely. This can be the beginning of a new era in European and local politics. The challenge now facing us is a stark one: Do we continue to fall for the deceit and false promises of the past or do we hand over the reins to people of imagination, commitment and integrity?
The choice is yours but whatever decision you take will have a profound effect on our future lives. We are all proud of what has been achieved in Castlebar and Mayo in the past by people with a sense of pride and dedication to their communities. Come on, let’s strike a blow for our communities by voting for change.
