Report finds west left behind in ‘two-speed economy’

‘OUR REGION HAS ENORMOUS POTENTIAL’  Mayo County Council Chief Executive Peter Hynes.

Study calls for ‘positive discrimination’ for west and northwest

Anton McNulty

The Chief Executive of Mayo County Council has backed a report that found that the western region is being left behind in a ‘two-speed economy’ and is in need of ‘positive discrimination’.
A study by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) found that levels of inequality in terms of investment across a number of key areas such as health, education, infrastructure and transport.
The study, entitled ‘A Region in Transition: The Way Forward’, says that a policy of positive discrimination is required to accelerate growth and stem decline in the north, west and border communities of Ireland.
Mayo County Council issued a statement on Wednesday last, January 29, supporting the report, which also details how the region has the potential to be a net exporter of renewable energy, water, services, global technology products and ideas as part of a new knowledge economy.
“This study makes a compelling case for accelerated investment into the Northern and Western Region to move it back up the EU classification list,” said Chief Executive Peter Hynes.
“Our region has enormous potential, and success stories like Allergan in Westport show what can be achieved and delivered on the West Coast.
“The Atlantic Economic Corridor is the key to balancing future development on this island, which would benefit all regions and all residents. We look forward to the front loading of planned investment in key infrastructure in this region, which will unleash the full potential of a remarkable place and address a structural imbalance dating back over two centuries.”  
Under-investment
The report’s author is the chief economist of the NWRA, John Daly. Analysing data over a ten-year period, he found significant levels of regional under-investment between the years of 2008 to 2018.
The study found that investment in health infrastructure in the northern and western region is below the State average, and that the level of third-level infrastructure funding per undergraduate is significantly lower in the north and west (€141 compared to the national average of €197).
It also found that region received €87,240 for national roads per kilometre, compared to the national average of €116,054, and that Ireland West Airport Knock received the lowest level of capital and operational grants per passenger out of all the regional airports.
Commenting on the report, Chairperson of the NWRA Declan McDonnell said: “Although the national economy is growing, this region’s relative growth has not kept pace, creating a two-speed economy. We have seen the impact of regional inequality in the UK, that’s why this report is timely in calling for ‘positive discrimination’ to address the deficit.”
As well as calling for positive discrimination and further investment into the region, the report sets out eleven recommendations. These include developing Galway and the region’s designated ‘Regional Growth Centres’ and ‘Key Towns’ to sufficient scale; improving the region’s ‘human capital’ levels via its third-level institutions; and enhancing regional infrastructure that enables growth, supports SMEs in rural communities and encourages the growth of remote working.

Downgraded
The report also noted that the EU has downgraded the northern and western region from being considered as ‘Developed’ and has applied a new designation of ‘In Transition’.
Sinn Féin councillor Gerry Murray welcomed this new designation as proof that the west and northwest is being left behind.
“It is now official: we have a two-tier economy, with Dublin and the south of the country classified as a developed region, with the west and north west classified as a region in transition, meaning that the northwest of Ireland is declining at a rapid rate and well on its way to becoming an Objective 1 status region. Objective 1 status would classify the west of Ireland as one of the least developed regions in the EU,” the Charlestown-based councillor said.
He added: “Though the new transition classification will mean better EU co-funding rates for the west of Ireland, the reality is that successive governments have failed to nominate critical infrastructure projects in the west, even in circumstances where in excess of 50 percent matching funding would be available from the EU.
“As far as the EU Commission is concerned, the crisis in rural Europe is a legacy of decades of neglect, with nation states failing to take advantage of generous EU co-funding rates by refusing not only to nominate major projects in the regions, but actively undermining and frustrating the attempts of local government and civic society to deliver critical infrastructure for their communities.
“Tourism, CAP and Leader will not reverse rural decline. Forestry, industrial wind farms and greenways are not the answer. National governments must stop discriminating against our regions and embark on a major extensive multibillion infrastructural investment plan. That is the only strategy that can save rural Ireland.”