Community leaders campaign to attract jobs
Around 60 acres of IDA-owned land in north and east Galway remains unoccupied by any major employer – even though they in the heartland of regions ‘crying out’ for jobs.
That’s according to local TD Eugene Murphy, who revealed that the most significant pockets of IDA lands are located in Tuam and Ballinasloe – leading to his call for a more concerted effort to attract a major employer to either town.
The Roscommon-Galway TD described this as ‘the most neglected area of the country’ when it comes to job creation.
The Fianna Fáil Deputy said that the Government continually referred to reduced unemployment – but he maintained that this is down to either part-time positions or jobs in Dublin.
There are 20 acres of IDA-owned lands lying idle in Ballinasloe, around 30 acres in Tuam along with eight and a half in Ballygar while there are much smaller pockets in Mountbellew and Glenamaddy
However, Ballinasloe has become pro-active on the jobs front and Ballinasloe Area Community Development (BACD) successfully applied for the provision of an advance technology building on IDA-owned lands in Creagh.
And Chairman Seamus Duffy told the Connacht Tribune that they have applied for funding from the Urban Rural Regeneration Fund to actually construct the building.
He expressed the hope that there would be news on this front over the coming weeks and that BACD would also provide funding for its construction.
Mr Duffy described it as ‘a shovel-ready project’ and if it was built, they would then be asking the IDA to market the property with a view to getting a manufacturing industry in there – possibly in the area of medicare.
“If we get up and running, then there is huge potential for Ballinasloe. With the motorway we are easily accessible to Athlone and Galway city and are a viable alternative to any investor.
“There is a lot of support for this in the town and we are ready to roll once Minister Ring’s office provide us with the necessary to construct the technology building that is required to bring essential jobs to Ballinasloe,” Mr Duffy added.
Even their securing of planning permission for an advance technology building has already resulted in expressions of interest from potential employers to the town.
And it will be something of ‘a three-pronged approach’ as now both BACD, the IDA and, they hope, a potential investor will be involved in the process of getting the new building constructed.
“I can confirm that we have been in active discussion with various arms of the IDA and the fact that we have secured planning permission for a new technology building has certainly been to our advantage. But now we need to take it a step further,” Mr Duffy added.