MEP to hold public meeting in Ballinasloe

Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands Northwest, Chris MacManus, will host a public meeting concentrating on addressing regional imbalance and reversing rural decline in Gullane’s Hotel, Ballinasloe this Monday, February 20 at 8pm.

The meeting will feature contributions from Roscommon TD Claire Kerrane, Cllr Dermot Connolly and representatives of local community and farming organisations. MacManus has encouraged the public to attend the meeting and the join the discussion on delivering change for the West.

Chris McManus MacManus said: “Delivering balanced regional development and standing up for the West has always been a key priority for Sinn Féin and I am delighted to be hosting this discussion on addressing regional imbalance and reversing rural decline in Ballinasloe.”

“Over the past number of decades our region has suffered from neglect and a lack of opportunities for those of us who live here, particularly for our younger people. The EU’s downgrading of the Northern and Western region in recent years to being a lagging region and one ‘in transition’ highlights the urgency of addressing this problem.”

“We need positive discrimination for the region to turn this around and revitalize the economy in the West. The only thing that will reverse this decline is major investment in infrastructure and public services.

"I have been calling for Cohesion funding, State Aid flexibility, the billion euro allocation of the RRF and the Brexit Fund to be used to offer a ready-made investment package to provide for this. I have also been hosting high-level meetings with European Commissioners to highlight the particular issue here in the West.”

The MEP ended: “There is no doubt that the current approach to regional development needs to change urgently in order to ensure that this part of the country has a sustainable future. I would encourage people to attend our meeting this Monday 20th of February to join the discussion on how we can bring about change for our region.” E