The elected members of the Ballina Municipal District approved the payment of €10,000 to fund the continuation of the Mayo North Promotions Office for a period of three months. The office was set up two years ago, for a two year trial basis which ended at the end of December. The council management are now reviewing the performance of the office over the past two years and director of services, Joe Loftus, said he expects the review to be completed by the end of March this year.
A joint notice of motion was brought before the municipal districts January meeting, with Cllr Neil Cruise and Cllr Michael Loftus calling on the members to approve an allocation of €10,000 to keep the office going for a period of three months until the review is completed. Speaking on the motion Cllr Cruise said, "Myself and Cllr Loftus had a meeting with council executives over this and in light of the fact that our budgeting process doesn't really come into effect until the end of February or the start of March and the effect is that the two year trial basis of funding this project [ended in December], we couldn't make the decision not to support this in the interim for a three month period and we made the decision that we should fund it for €10,000 to keep the promotions office alive."
Cllr Cruise also said there had to be a buy in by local business if the venture was going to be as successful as it possibly could be, saying: "I will be making the point very strongly to all involved in promoting the area that businesses need to come on board, there needs to be a multiplier effect that whatever money is put forward by the local authority needs to be beefed up so there is a proper budget so our area will be promoted in the Mayo region and further afield, and that we get the word out there that we are here and open for business. We need our tourism project out there and supported."
Cllr Loftus told the meeting: "The whole idea of this project is to promote the whole area of north Mayo and it has massive, massive, potential. We have seen what has been done over the last two years and we've seen the way it has grown already and will grow. I think that when we have our new tourist office in the town, it will have a big bearing on all the organisations being brought into one area and it will show this north Mayo area the potential that can be achieved. I think that once there is a central point for everyone to come and see it will help everyone come together"
The chairperson of the municipal district Cllr Gerry Ginty supported the motion but also called on the businesses involved in the tourism sector to row in behind it with financial support, saying: "This is a very worthwhile project, but as Cllr Cruise touched on you need the involvement of the local business, that's why the likes of Westport has been successful. They got together 40 years ago and got everyone to buy into it, it didn't happen because of government support or council support, it happened because the people in the industry went out and they put their money into it themselves, and because they put their own money into it they were able to draw down greater money and I think that's what we should be doing here. Unless you invest, you have to speculate to accumulate, the people have to put money in to match what the council are doing."
Director of Services for the council, Joe Loftus, told the meeting: "Our position is that we totally support this position, first of all it is important that Ballina Municipal District take a lead role in including the economy in the area. I think it should be supported and we endorse the resolution and will make arrangements for the payment to be made."
