Mayo airport and rail corridor investment need to be prioritised

INDEPENDENT Ireland’s European election candidate for the midlands north-west constituency, Ciaran Mullooly, has committed to fighting tirelessly to secure essential EU funding to bolster infrastructure in the west of Ireland if elected on Friday.

Mullooly stated that robust and equitable funding to bolster the west of Ireland’s infrastructure will be a key priority of his in Brussels, making the west the significant player in manufacturing, freight and passenger transport that everybody knows it can be.

“It baffles me that so much focus, when it comes to Ireland’s tourism capacity, remains solely on lifting the passenger cap at Dublin airport, while regional balance is ignored,” he commented.

Mullooly is advocating for key infrastructure projects such as the Atlantic Rail Corridor and improvements to Ireland West Airport to be prioritised as a matter of urgency.

“If we are serious about wanting the west to become a viable manufacturing hub and, generally, a viable place to invest and do business, we must match this ambition with action,” he stated.

He also said that for all their talk, the Green Party seem to be more obsessed with “virtue signalling, greenwashing public debate and penalising rural dwellers more than they are in actually providing the infrastructure required to reduce vehicle dependency in rural Ireland.”

Mullooly acknowledged the significant funding Ireland West Airport has already received from the EU: “Knock airport, as it was known when I was a young lad, received a £1.3 million grant from the EU to assist with its initial development and it has received numerous EU co-funded investments over the intervening years.

“With more strategic investments, we can ensure Ireland West Airport and the Atlantic Rail Corridor become the foundation of the west’s transport network, driving economic growth and providing critical connections for both people and goods.”