N5 a threat to Mayo jobs

N5 a threat to Mayo jobs


Anton McNulty

WITH no money to finance the upgrade of the N5 linking Mayo to Longford, multinationals in the county have warned that they may have no choice but to pull out of the west.
Multinational companies such as Allergan in Westport, Baxter in Castlebar and Hollister in Ballina have warned the Government that unless €220 million is spent upgrading the N5, it will threaten their existence in the county.
However, the upgrade of both the N5 from Westport to Bohola and the Ballaghaderreen by-pass are still only at preliminary design stage and these projects are not on the current list of priorities for the National Roads Authority. In addition the N26, which was refused planning permission by An Bord PleanΡla, has fallen further down the list and the NRA confirmed that any investment is dependent on financing and funding.
“We are well advanced in the planning process, but at the end of the day it is all dependent on financing and funding. As a result, the likely date of construction is unknown. The N5 is one of a number of national routes that we have on our list,” said NRA spokesperson SeΡn O’Neill.
The three companies are the biggest employers in Mayo with up to 3,000 people directly employed by them and an estimated 6,000 more jobs are reliant on their presence in the region. Last year, the multinational companies were part of the Mayo Industries Group which met with An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen and Noel Dempsey, the Minister for Transport who outlined their concerns but with no movement in the last year, they have reiterated the consequences of failure to invest.
“There just doesn’t seem to be any realisation at government level that failure to address the N5 situation is putting jobs at risk,” said Pat O’Donnell, Managing Director of Allergan, and a spokesperson for the Mayo Industries Group.
“We are competing with plants in other parts of the world where there is excellent infrastructure and we are at a serious competitive disadvantage. If any one of these companies go, they will not be replaced in this part of the world.
“The quality of the road is so poor that Baxter, which makes medical products, has to increase the quality of its packaging just so that its product will survive the journey to Dublin. It’s costing the company an extra €400,000 a year. Baxter has two sister companies abroad that don’t have this problem. It’s just not sustainable.”
The new County Manager of Mayo County Council, Peter Hynes told The Mayo News that holding onto existing businesses in Mayo will be one of the main priorities of the Council.
“We will be looking to consolidating our existing businesses and enterprises in the county and look to work with businesses and the private sector to retain what employment we have and not lose them. This includes all businesses; small, medium and large, they are all important to us,” he said.
Mr O’Donnell added that while the state of the N5 may threaten continued employment it also hampers any further investment into the county.
“We’re trying desperately to hold on to the jobs we have and build on them, but to do that we have to convince our parent companies that Ireland is a good place to be. When we get a company executive over from California, we put in him a car to Westport and by the time he gets to Ballaghaderreen he’s looking out the window thinking he’s in a Third World country. It’s embarrassing and it makes it almost impossible to argue for any further investment here,’ he said.
Mayo TD Beverly Flynn said that the county wanted to maintain the jobs in Mayo and did not want a situation to occur similar to Dell in Limerick.