Claremorris is looking to a bright future

For the new year, the Western People spoke with three key people in the development of Claremorris to hear their views on the current state of the town and the challenges it faces, and how they might be addressed.

Seamus McCormack is Chairperson of Claremorris IRD, a voluntary community organisation, committed to the development of the resources of the region in an integrated fashion. Its principal activity is the promotion and development of the town and surrounding area.

“Claremorris is like every other town of its size in the country,” Mr McCormack said, “in that you have the pressures of accommodation and the decline of the traditional retail sector. These are national problems, not confined to Claremorris, and the challenge is how to address them locally.

“There is a certain amount of dereliction in the town too, but I am happy to see that there has been very significant and ongoing improvement in the appearance of the town in the past year or so with the redevelopment and renovation of some of the previously derelict and aesthetically unpleasing properties. This has already and will continue to further improve the appearance of the town.” 

Mr McCormack believes the long-term solution to these problems is an ongoing investment by government, particularly in the area of social and affordable housing.

“The provision of more social and affordable houses will ease the pressure on private rented accommodation,” he said, “releasing some of the private housing stock back into the market.

“We market the town as a regional centre with easy access to Galway, Roscommon and Sligo and serving the rest of Mayo as well. We can continue with that policy and the best way to do that is to make the town attractive for industry or services to locate in.” 

Mr McCormack said that at the moment there isn’t enough commercial space available to attract a multi-national type industry to the town.

“We need facilities to attract industry, or a government department, or something along those lines, which was mentioned a few years ago. That’s why the IRD has designed and secured planning permission for a 22,000 sq. foot building to be constructed on a site on the western side of the railway station.

“This plan is now at a stage where the Government, if they wish to support and develop Claremorris as a zone to attract industry along the Atlantic Economic Corridor, that we will be well positioned to do so.

“We also need to look at any opportunities to increase the number of housing units in the town. We are well poised to do that if there is a genuine government commitment and a release of funds, to help us to achieve that.” 

Mr McCormack said the IRD has a very good working relationship with Mayo County Council.

“We would hope to work with them to develop the whole area. The IRD is continuing its role in this regard. It is the IRD that has secured the planning permission for the building which we would hope would attract a significant service industry or a multi-national to the town. At least we would have something in place which, if the IDA or Enterprise Ireland or others are asked to identify units or a town that can support development, has a good community spirit, and has a track record of investment, that they would immediately think of Claremorris. That’s what we want to put in place.” 

Mr McCormack said the IRD also wants to capitalise on the transport connections of the town to improve connectivity.

“We hope to see the extension of the Western Rail Corridor into Claremorris in the lifetime of the new government. That will fit in perfectly for our own vision of how the town will develop.”

Education is key

Maureen Walsh is the managing director of DeCare, Ireland’s only specialist dental and vision insurance provider. The company employs 125 people in the town and is growing all the time. Maureen is also involved with IBEC and is a positive voice in the community.

“Claremorris is a brilliant town,” she told the Western People, “but all towns need to upskill their people. Employers need skilled people and the skillset required is constantly changing. It is changing now at a rapid pace. So, in terms of skills and being able to have people develop those skills, towns need to continue to educate people.

“I think that the fact is, with all the different developments around artificial intelligence (AI), digital tech and the changing world of work, and everything else, it is very important that there are evolving educational opportunities for people. Not just for students in secondary or third level school, of that age, but for people of all ages to upskill. 

"I think it's really important to have a workforce educated in the skills required by employers at any given time. We have great people at DeCare – we’re very lucky in that regard - we really have an extraordinary team. But going forward, I think it's going to be very important to have skilled people for all employers in all industries if rural towns are to thrive.” 

Ms Walsh said people want to live in Claremorris and they have access to a good education system locally.

“It’s not just Mount St Michael and St Colman’s secondary schools, but all the primary schools, too. They're very, very strong, but it's going to be very important that all of those curriculums continue to develop so that different courses can be introduced, and new courses introduced at an earlier age. And then, building on from that, you have colleges and universities and we need accessibility to those schools with a rapidly evolving curriculum. Schools everywhere have to keep pace with what is happening technologically worldwide.” 

Ms Walsh also said it was very important to have an adequate supply of housing.

“Claremorris is a gem in terms of quality of life and work-life balance, and that's a big factor when people choose to work with us at DeCare, and our work model is very much a hybrid model.

“When people are working in different ways, it's so important, that people have houses to live in, and the supporting infrastructure in place around that. Lots of local people have been very involved in the West on Track campaign to bring the railway from Athenry to Collooney, which would pass through Claremorris. Railway and bus public transport and all that infrastructure is also going to be very important.” 

Ms Walsh says Claremorris is ahead of its time in many respects and is a town where there's going to be big population growth because of its proximity to so many different facilities.

“The town itself is a great place to live,” Maureen said. “I always mention sports because I'm so close to the swimming scene, and people want to raise families in the area and the whole funding around sports and everything else is going to be so important.

“I think Claremorris is a great spot and I think from an entrepreneurial standpoint, you have a lot of entrepreneurs in the town and they partner with different businesses and indigenous businesses, so there is great collaboration, support and synergies. But I think there needs to be a lot of focus in the education and learning area and that's got to come from the schools.

“The schools can lead the necessary change. I think there are ways they can start building in different technological advancements that everyone's still learning about. We’re learning about AI and how it relates to health so, in our world, it's all around dental health and different things around service and everything else. So I think some of this could actually be built into the curriculum even for some of the younger schoolchildren.” 

Ms Walsh believes that education around emerging and rapidly developing technologies could even be introduced in primary schools, and then second-level schools could build on that.

“We've already seen some of the students from the local schools, how they've excelled in the different aspects of the BT Science fairs and the like. We need to build on that. I think curriculum changes need to be quicker if Claremorris is going to keep growing and leading in all these areas. It has to be quicker; we need to accelerate the pace.” 

Ms Walsh would also like schools to work more on the communications and problem-solving skills of students.

“This area needs urgent attention. We see it everywhere. Interpersonal skills are so important, and this is an area that needs to be addressed urgently. Problem-solving needs to be taught in schools too. People need to be able to work out solutions for themselves. These are key issues employers look for in job applicants.” 

The service side of DeCare’s Claremorris operation, deals with the transatlantic business, providing service to about seven million people in the United States.

“That's all claims and professional services side of things,” Maureen explained. “Then the Irish side of the business we have 70,000 customers here in Ireland. We work with about 550 corporates here in Ireland and that's where I spend a lot of my time, and that's where the team is very focused as well on building the market here in Ireland with a view to growing it potentially further.”

Council perspective

Tom Gilligan took over as Director of Services for the Claremorris and Swinford Municipal Area of Mayo County Council at the end of last summer. He sees housing as the big issue facing Claremorris.

“We’re doing a number of things in relation to Claremorris,” Mr Gilligan said. “The most obvious one now is the Mount Street development. But we did Silverbridge recently.

“One thing I want to tackle, and will tackle, is the issue of vacancy and dereliction. There are a number of vacant and derelict buildings in the town and I have been in contact with one or two of the owners already to see if we can progress that. I’ve had reassurances that some of these buildings will be brought back into use fairly soon. I think that’s a huge issue. I think it is important for the town to look well.

“Claremorris isn’t the only town with this problem. But in Mayo in general we do have a lot of vacancy and dereliction and this is one of the things which I am very passionate about. It is something I want to deal with as best I can. But we need to build more houses. One of the benefits of council-provided housing is that it frees up rental properties, releasing them back into the commercial rental sector.

“We want to create an environment too, for private developers to build new homes and we need to address vacancy and dereliction. I am very pleased to see that private developers have made a huge impact on Mount Street, returning empty buildings back into available use. This not only benefits the community in terms of housing provision, but also it has had a huge impact on the visual appearance of that area.” 

Mr Gilligan said Mayo Co Council will be looking at affordable housing for Claremorris soon.

“We want to see more private housing being built,” he said. “And the town could do with more businesses in the centre of the town. Strategically, Claremorris is in a fantastic location. It is just off the N17, the N60 runs through the town, it is on the Dublin-Westport railway line. It has great bus services and Knock Shrine and Ireland West Airport are nearby. It is the centre of south Mayo and also a very strategic location in terms of the whole county and Connacht in general. There’s great enthusiasm in the town too and there’s great local leadership. There’s a lot of positivity around Claremorris and a lot of people with a ‘can do’ attitude.” 

Mr Gilligan said roads and transportation are a big issue for him too.

“The town hasn’t a traffic problem like other towns have,” he said. “The traffic flows reasonably well. I will also be looking at road safety. The Lisduff junction has been a fantastic addition.

“All in all, I think the future is bright in Claremorris, but I think it can be brighter and I’ll be happy to work with the local people to deliver that.”