Fine gael hits back in 250 mayo jobs row
A MAYO Fine Gael elected representative has come out fighting in a bitter row over the announcement in Washington on St. Patrick’s Day of 250 new jobs at the former Volex plant in Castlebar.
Councillor Cyril Burke took offence to comments made by Fianna Fáil Councillor Lisa Chambers challenged a statement from the Department of An Taoiseach which appeared stating An Taoiseach Enda Kenny ‘had no direct involvement in the announcement by Opensparkz of 250 jobs for Castlebar’ despite his name being earlier linked with the announcement.
She stated: “The most disappointing part of this story is that, after associating himself with the announcement of these 250 jobs for Castlebar and attempting to take the credit for their creation, An Taoiseach is now seeking to distance himself from the project. I find his conduct in this regard extremely disingenuous and see it as an attempt to quell the anger of the Castlebar people who have been waiting four years for him to deliver jobs to the town and are still waiting.”
Now Councillor Burke has hit back, claiming the project represents a great opportunity for Castlebar town through the creation of a new global sustainability initiative (GIS) which will be involved in the area of food technology.
He said: “What was announced were industries and investments that could bring over 250 jobs to Castlebar. I invite Councillor Lisa Chambers to bring forward ideas that would create more jobs in Castlebar rather taking a negative and cynical view for what is a good news story for the town.
“Claiming credit for developments like this is not at issue here. The greater good of the town is what matters. In claiming a lack of knowledge and quests for glory, Councillor Chambers has never once acknowledged the fact that her Fianna Fáil colleague, the cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Councillor Damien Ryan, travelled to Washington DC for this announcement.
“It is very disappointing that a Fianna Fáil councillor would be so negative towards companies who are prepared to invest significant funds in Castlebar, especially when one considers that Fianna Fáil was in government when Volex and APC shut down operations in the town with the loss of 1,400 jobs.
“This announcement is a vote of confidence in Castlebar and County Mayo as a place to come and do business. It also proves that we are beginning to see job creation in locations outside of the larger urban centres due to this government’s regional policy. We need to see this type of job growth in our town and we should be do everything we can to achieve this objective.”