County manager Des Mahon this week urged the elected members of the Mayo County Council to sell the positives of the county rather than the negatives. Mr Mahon was speaking to the members on foot of a motion by Fine Gael’s Michelle Mulherin where she called for the major industries in Mayo to be afforded the opportunity to outline the problems that are affecting their growth due to inadequate infrastructure in Mayo.
Speaking on the motion Cllr Mulherin told the meeting: “The Mayo industries group is a lobby group set up by the major industries in the county who feel they can’t compete as well as they could because of their location in Mayo. When the representatives of these companies come to Mayo they are always surprised by the roads, there is good will from these companies to Mayo, and they are looking to stay here, and if there wasn’t concerns they wouldn’t be going to the trouble they are to lobby like they are.”
Cllr Peter Flynn seconded the motion, but was cautious about the outcome telling the meeting: “I’d like to support the motion, but I don’t think it will do anything apart from highlight it again. It’s the old east v west thing again, we just don’t have influential Government TDs in the county since Padraig Flynn left town a few years ago, but let’s bring them in and see what happens.”
Fianna Fáil Councillor Al McDonnell, while supportive of the motion’s intentions, expressed his concerns over the wording of it. “I have every confidence in Cllr Mulherin’s good intentions, but I have reservations about the wording of the motion,” he said. The Castlebar representative went on to say: “I don’t think highlighting the bad issues is a very good way to sell the county, there is a problem from Ballina to the N5 and from Westport to Castlebar, but for the Castlebar based industries the road from Castlebar out is fine and of a very high standard. It’s in Roscommon where the road gets worse, but I do fully appreciate the good intentions of Cllr Mulherin’s motion.”
Cllr Eugene McCormack said that the council should not listen to the group, Councillor Gerry Murray used the debate as a platform to speak on the necessity of opening the Western Rail Corridor as soon as possible as an aid to industries.
Cllr Gerry Ginty added: “The big multinational companies are only here for the good of themselves and what conditions suit them. When they don’t suit them they will up sticks and move to China or Eastern Europe.”
Mr Mahon told the meeting that there are negatives of course, “but you should be concentrating on the positives of the county”.
