NOW is the time to invest, to keep our towns attractive and to provide additional facilities and amenities so that businesses will want to invest, community activists in Kiltimagh have been told.
The chief executive of IRD Kiltimagh, Joe Kelly, told the company’s annual general meeting that hopes are still high the decentralisation of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to the town will go ahead.
Lengthy negotiations have been held with the Office of Public Works on the matter, Mr Kelly said. The newly-built Cairn International Trade Centre has been identified as the location for the decentralised department.
But a few hurdles have to be overcome before the transfer is complete. The report of An Snip Nua recommended the abolition of the Department, with its functions being subsumed into other departments. It is not known if the Government will accept the controversial recommendation.
The impressive Cairn International Trade Centre was built at the height of the economic boom and has left IRD Kiltimagh with borrowings of up to •4.5 million.
However, Mr Kelly told the annual general meeting that the debts were not a source of concern for the company.
“Because of low interest rates, the company is in a healthy financial position and is able to carry this debt for a reasonable period,” he said.
Mr Kelly also revealed that IRD Kiltimagh has been successful in bringing together a team effort involving internet companies e-net, Westnet, BT, CMS Peripherals and Mayo County Council. This initiative has resulted in the setting up of the Kiltimagh Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).
Mr Kelly added: “This significant piece of infrastructure will see a situation where the town will have access to at least a one gigabit of broadband service when accessed over the MAN. This will attract new business, particularly those that rely heavily on broadband for voice and data.
“This, in simple terms, is about 40,000 times the service that comes into a normal home when speed and contention ratios are taken into account. In other words it’s like comparing the speed of a bicycle and the speed of a space shuttle!” Creating jobs was the main objective of the Cairn International Trade Centre, he added. “If we didn’t build it, we would have no place for businesses to come and create jobs. We have created the infrastructure and the jobs will follow. You cannot fill it, if you do not have it,” he said.
Mr Kelly also went on to talk about the need for a plan for each town and village in order to survive the recession.
“It is imperative that the state agencies and Mayo County Council pull together in order to devise an action plan for each town and village to ensure that it has a niche and can continue to prosper into the future.
“Now is not the time to reduce services to towns and villages. Now is the time to invest, to keep our towns clean, tidy and attractive and to provide additional facilities and amenities, and to make them places into which both the local and external business sector would want to invest their money.”
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