Mayo Greens learn 'harsh truths' from north Mayo community group
The monthly meeting of the Mayo branch of the Green Party was held in the Ceide Coast Eco Campus in Ballycastle on June 12 last as part of the local party policy of outreach to local communities throughout the county.
A spirited discussion followed the informed and proactive presentation by the local Ceide Coast community group on the challenges facing Ballycastle and the wider rural area of north Mayo.
In particular, the Mayo Greens heard that local authority and state policy was denuding north Mayo of people through obstructionist planning decisions, poor infrastructure, erosion of public services and the lack of local democracy.
Bríd Conroy, Mayo Greens chairperson, responded that while the Green Party was in favour of wind power as part of transforming energy production to self-sufficient green renewables, the local party was opposed to seeing industrial scale wind-farm development of north Mayo and large scale developments in general that are not community-focused or -driven, especially as locals themselves were unable to secure planning permissions to build their own homes in the shadow of these massive turbines and pylons.
“There is clearly a disconnect between Mayo County Council and local communities, such as Ballycastle, who are struggling with real world issues of depopulation, loss of local services and lack of official acknowledgement of their problems,” said Bríd.
“We in the Mayo Greens acknowledge that too often, government and local authority policies can be seen to be only urban-centred, top-down in ‘one-size-fits-all' planning and unwilling to listen to the grassroots of rural Mayo.
“Indeed, our own Green Party needs to do better to align our desire for vibrant, self-sustaining communities with local yearning for accountability, empowerment and the need to be actively listened to.”
Bríd thanked the local community for their hospitality and wished them well in their plans to develop the former convent school in Ballycastle into a state-of-the-art eco-business centre and a hub for local enterprise.