Gavin tells Barrett to ‘get real’ about Castlebar jobs

Gavin tells Cllr Barrett to ‘get real’ about Castlebar jobs


Edwin McGreal

In comments that will certainly fan the flames ahead of this year’s Mayo County Council elections, Cllr Blackie Gavin (Fianna FΡil) has launched a broadside against Labour’s Cllr Harry Barrett.
Cllr Barrett has been a vocal presence in the jobs debate in Castlebar, demanding Enda Kenny deliver 1,000 jobs to the town in his term as Taoiseach. However, Cllr Gavin says Cllr Barrett needs to ‘get real’ about who is responsible for solving the jobs crisis in Castlebar.
Cllr Gavin argues that Cllr Barrett’s party is in government and has the power to solve the jobs crisis in Castlebar if it wants to.
“Cllr Barrett has been banging the drum about jobs for Castlebar, week in, week out,” said Cllr Gavin. “Somebody should remind him that it is his own party that is in government, and that Labour ministers have the power to do what he is calling for at the stroke of a pen. His own party leader is the man who can deliver jobs to this town if he really wants to.”
Cllr Gavin, a sitting member of Castlebar Town Council and Mayo County Council, claims that Cllr Barrett is acting as though he is in opposition when he has it in his grasp to lobby his party leader, TΡnaiste Eamon Gilmore, to respond to his demands.
“Cllr Barrett cannot continue to run with the hare and chase with the hounds on the Castlebar jobs issue,” said Cllr Gavin. “It’s time for him now to shape up to his own party and get them to deliver what he is demanding.
“What I would like to know is how often has Cllr Barrett lobbied Mr Gilmore or Minister Rabbitte and demanded that they deliver to Castlebar? How many times has he met the TΡnaiste and put to him the crisis which he keeps highlighting here locally? How many times has he looked for access to his own party ministers, the people with the power to get results?
“I am now challenging Cllr Barrett to publicly state where he stands on the issue of Labour’s interest in Castlebar and whether he is prepared to use his influence as a Labour councillor to get the action he is calling for,” stated Cllr Gavin.

‘Laughable’
Replying to the comments, Cllr Harry Barrett dismissed Cllr Gavin’s remarks as ‘nothing but background noise’, saying that Cllr Gavin has not put down one single motion to address the jobs crisis in the last five years.
“We see him trying to use the jobs crisis in the town, on the eve of the local elections, to further his own agenda; jumping up and down now with nothing to offer the jobless except an attack of those who are trying their level best to propose solutions.
“He has sat on his hands for over over five years while I have been engaging in a long campaign to bring jobs to Castlebar. Over the last two years I have been the councillor that has raised the flag, calling for action on the jobs crisis.
“Now, this week, in a time when we are at the centre of political power in the country, Cllr Gavin wants me to call in others elected elsewhere to assist with our jobs crisis. This is frankly a ridiculous, simplistic and laughable suggestion in the context of the massive political power available in our own town today,” said Cllr Barrett.