Spending shortfall a grim reminder of where west stands

It was refreshing to see the lack of investment in infrastructure in the west of Ireland highlighted on RTÉ News last week. The more of a light that can be shone on this issue, the better.

All too often, unfortunately, it doesn’t get near the level of focus it warrants as a political issue from people in the west, which facilitates a malaise from the political classes.

Sometimes it can be seen as not snappy enough or certainly not a clickbait story in the way that the huge overspend on the bike stand at Leinster House has received.

But be in no doubt about which story is more important. The cost of the bike stand – €335,000 – is a pittance compared to the lack of central government investment in this region.

The chronic and continuous underspend on infrastructural projects west of the Shannon is a central factor in why so many of our young have to leave, in why many of our communities are becoming less and less viable, in why so many rural GAA clubs are struggling to field and, fundamentally, in why we are one of the worst resourced regions in the EU.

There is a very strong argument to be made that this region should receive positive discrimination and front-loaded investment. Basically, build it and they will come.

The quality of life in the west of Ireland has brought back plenty of people in the past few years since remote working became much more widespread thanks to Covid – probably the only thing we can thank Covid for.

And it can be a panacea for the ills of the east coast where exorbitant house prices are crippling so many working families. We’ve all heard the stories of parents who drop their kids to creche almost as soon as they get up and collect them just in time for bedtime. How have we allowed this to become acceptable and common?

An overly-centralised spatial strategy has created a capital city that is, quite literally, bursting at the seams.

Virtually all our significant road and rail infrastructure radiates in and out of Dublin. It is home to an overwhelming number of third-level college places. This is not normal by comparative standards.

Yet those of us lucky enough to be able to live in the west of Ireland – and we should never forget how lucky we are – can enjoy a far better quality of life, much more affordable housing (though not enough supply of it) and get to see our kids for substantially longer every day.

Yet we do not receive positive discrimination in the west when it comes to infrastructure. Indeed, as research from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) underscores, what we receive is simply old-fashioned discrimination.

In terms of infrastructural development, the Northern Western Region (Connacht plus Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan) is ranked an alarming 218th out of 234 regions across Europe. Our Midlands and Eastern Region scores over three times higher for infrastructural development.

Yet as research by the NWRA has revealed, this region has received less than 10 percent of the nationwide investment in infrastructure projects worth more than €1 million, despite accounting for 17.6 percent of Ireland’s population.

In contrast, the Eastern and Midlands Region of Ireland received 66.5 percent of investment from projects worth more than €1 million, despite the region accounting for less than 50 percent of the population of Ireland.

In 2022 the European Commission downgraded us to a ‘lagging region’ when our GDP fell to 71 percent of the European average. The focus ought to be diverted here and fast.

We should be up in arms about this. But maybe we just have a passive acceptance as to our place in the pecking order. None of this is news.

We’ve been on the backburner for so long when it comes to development in the west and it only seems to be getting worse.

The best example remains the Trans European Network – Transport (TEN-T). Europe provides funding supports that can dramatically change the economic outlook of entire regions.

The Irish Government would not be on the hook for all of the cost of the capital investment which can transform not just the west but ease pressure on Dublin.

The TEN-T has a Core funding network worth hundreds of billions of euro and represents 90 percent of the EU’s infrastructural budget to 2030. Only projects on the Core network can apply for Core funding.

The ‘Western Arc’ from Cork-Limerick-Galway-Sligo-Derry-Belfast was on that Core network and could draw down huge volumes of funding support from Europe for the likes of the N/M17, Knock Airport and the Western Rail Corridor.

But never forget that, in his wisdom, Leo Varadkar, then the Minister for Transport, removed the ‘Western Arc’ from the Core network.

Now, the only parts of Ireland in the Core network are from Belfast (pre Brexit) to Dublin to Cork and from Portlaoise to Limerick, further accelerating imbalanced regional development.

Never forget, also, that Knock Airport is only here today because of the vision and belligerence of the great Monsignor James Horan, in spite of the hostility of various Irish governments.

The NWRA has called on the Government to prioritise 13 infrastructure projects for the Northern and Western Region at an estimated cost that would range from €4.8 billion to €6.8 billion.

The NWRA has urged the Government to prioritise 13 infrastructure projects for the region at an estimated cost that would range from €4.8 billion to €6.8 billion.

Ahead of finalising a submission to the first draft revision to the National Planning Framework, Cllr Jarlath Munnelly, chairperson of the NWRA, put it succinctly in saying the region can: ‘take pressure off the greater Dublin region if Government provides adequate investment in the [Northern and Western] region’.

Some of the projects they have called on the government to prioritise include the N17 Knock to Collooney Road Scheme, the reopening of the Western Rail Corridor from Athenry to Collooney and T-TEN Road projects in Donegal.

The NWRA estimates the total capital cost of delivering these priority projects would range from €4.8 billion to €6.8 billion, which the NWRA said is ‘considerably lower’ than the latest cost estimates for Dublin Metro.

It all makes a bit too much sense, doesn’t it?