Áine Ryan
AFTER a decade-long deadlock, the prospect of work beginning on an IDA Technology Park for employment blackspot Ballina is now just about two months away, The Mayo News has learned. However, as this park will be largely composed of service industry enterprises, the upcoming Bord Gáis network will not be of direct benefit to the beleaguered development.
While County Council Director of Services, Mr Seamus Granahan, declined to specify a date for the ultimate transfer of the Sligo Road site, he confirmed that it was his understanding that ‘the formal transfer is in process’.
“Once this has been completed, the main issue will then be how quickly the IDA will bring forward the implementation of the project,” said Mr Granahan.
The IDA’s Area Director for the Midwest, Ms Maura Saddington, declined to reveal any specific plans the authority may have for the park.
“Given that we don’t own the site yet, it would be premature to talk about our plans. They will be announced when matters are completed. Conveyancing takes time. We’re trying to work as hard as possible to get the sale through,” said Ms Saddington.
While she welcomed the development of a Bord Gáis network in the north Mayo capital, saying that ‘any improvement in infrastructure is very welcome’, she added that a lot of the authority’s contemporary projects were service-industry based and therefore don’t have a high demand for a gas supply.
Meanwhile, Bord Gáis made a presentation to last week’s Ballina Town Council meeting about its €40 million gas project for the west of Ireland. At a similar presentation to the County Council some weeks ago, there had been significant criticism by Cllr Michelle Mulherin of the fact that only preparatory work would start in Ballina this year. She had said at that meeting it was ‘pathetic, a disgrace and out-and-out neglect’ that Ballina, a designated hub town, was not being prioritised and would not have gas flowing until March 2009.
However, councillors generally welcomed the project at last week’s Town Council meeting, which was told that advance works had been deferred until August to minimise disruption during the annual Ballina Street Festival.
At the meeting Bord Gáis executives thanked Ballina Chamber of Commerce for its positive and proactive input into the project. Connections Manager, Mr Mark Houlihan, said that the board’s sales campaign, which entailed meetings with developers who are potential clients, had already started in Westport and Castlebar, and would soon be implemented in Ballina. Home-owners will also be canvassed by August, he said.
