A meeting has heard that all of West Clare’s elected representatives must act as ambassadors to attract industry into the struggling part of the county.
This week’s meeting of West Clare Municipal District has been dominated by a discussion around ways to revitalise the region’s seemingly waning economy.
With future plans for Moneypoint Power Station frequently cited as the panacea to West Clare’s economic woes, Kilrush Independent Councillor Ian Lynch has this week called for local representatives and Clare County Council to “think outside the box”.
He’s called for a strategic plan to be devised to bring investment into the region as means of boosting employment and enabling young people to work and live in the region.
Additionally, he’s called on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to visit to assess the feasibility of establishing a West Clare Economic Taskforce.
Councillor Lynch says unless they can find a way to prevent young people from leaving, they may as well put up a gate in Lissycasey to close West Clare once and for all.
In a similar vein, Quilty Fianna Fáil Councillor Michael Shannon is calling for an assessment to be carried out of vacant commercial property in the Kilrush local electoral area.
The latest Geodirectory report has found that Kilrush has with a whole 24.% of its units vacant, Kilrush has the ninth-highest commercial vacancy rate in the country.
Councillor Shannon says once the figures are known, work can begin to attract businesses into existing premises.
You can listen to the full interview here:
