Belmullet grant 'not won at Westport's expense'

It is misleading to suggest that a grant application to complete the Canal House project in Belmullet was won at the expense of a proposal to develop Westport Harbour, a Mayo County Council management executive has stated.

At a meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District last week, several councillors criticised the refusal of the Westport project while suggesting that management was responsible for Belmullet successfully being awarded a grant. However, Director of Services Joanne Grehan advised members it was wrong to conflate the two, adding that the Westport project could get funding in the future.

"The approved project for Belmullet came from a Gaeltacht funding stream and had we not had any projects in for consideration under this stream, this municipal district would have been in receipt of no such project. The Gaeltacht stream is a new stream for the entire country. Every single Gaeltacht county had an opportunity to apply for one project. That is a fact. This county had two potential projects, one in Tourmakeady and one in Belmullet and our application in Belmullet was successful.” 

Ms Grehan said there were two different fundings streams - the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) and the Gaeltacht stream of funding.

"We did not know there was any issue with the Westport project and had no indication it would not be funded. The first we learned about it was when the list came out and we were shocked and very surprised. We asked for feedback straight away and the formal feedback was as per the letter attached to the report, which notes that all funding rounds tend to be oversubscribed and while the Westport Harbour application was not deemed successful, this does not preclude a future funding application for this or a similar project.” 

She added: “So we can look for another appropriate funding steam for that project, and the tourism team has committed to doing that.” 

She also pointed out that over €20 million of funding had been won between Newport and Westport under the TVRS. 

Speaking through Irish, Belmullet councillor Sean Carey welcomed the grant for his hometown, telling the forum: “Belmullet was lucky and rightly so. There was no other application from Belmullet, and this was the first time an application was looked for from the Gaeltacht."

Cllr Gerry Coyle said nobody knew the Westport application would be turned down, adding: “This was a Gaeltacht grant that came in for Belmullet and we agreed and will keep our word, that at the next round of TVRS grants, our efforts will go towards an application for Westport."

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.