Fianna Fáil leader slams lack of investment in Mayo GMIT Campus

THE leader of Fianna Fáil Micheal Martin has expressed disappointment over the ongoing decline of the Mayo GMIT Campus.

After visiting the centre today, he said there had been no captial investment in the college since 2008 and it was a sad indictment that netting had been erected to prevent tiles falling off the leaking roof from causing damage.

He said: “I was struck by the pessimism I encountered there. It is a campus under pressure. I don't want to see it being a sacrificial lamb due to widespread government cuts.”

Deputy Martin told The Connaught Telegraph said the Mayo public will not have to wait until the next general election before firm action is taken in respect of the campus.

“My party will be applying a lot more pressure and asking many more parliamentary questions over the coming weeks and we want clear answers.

“The government needs to start matching its rhetoric with solid support. The demise of the facility has to stop with extra funding and additional courses.”

Deputy Martin said he will be meeting with the Save Mayo GMIT Action Comittee in the coming weeks to outline his commitment to the facility.

In a statement issued after his press conference, he said he supported calls for ring-fenced funding for the Castlebar college.

“We have a facility that is in retreat and it has to be turned around by a clear vision,” he added.

On the question of the recent announcement by the chairman of the Western Development Commission, Paddy McGuinness, not to seek reappointment, he said he felt that Mr. McGuinness had reached the end of his tether due to lack of government support for the region, a factor that was evidenced in the country's lop-sided economic development.    

*See our Facebook page for video coverage of his interview.