No resolution in sight for major Mayo project left in no man's land

IT is deeply disappointing that the much-heralded Castlebar urban regeneration project, for which €11m. was allocated in 2021, is not being progressed with any evidential degree of leadership or conviction.

It would appear, sadly, that its destiny lies in a proverbial no man's land between the Department of Local Government in Dublin and Mayo County Council in Castlebar.

Elected members of the council have not once, but twice, approved of the raising of a loan of €15m. for the Castlebar urban regeneration project as well as a number of other proposals in the county to meet a shortfall in respect of projected increased construction and other costs since the proposal was first announced three years ago.

But, on both occasions, the approval of this loan was not, it seems, rubberstamped by department officials for reasons best known to themselves and, consequently, the matter has reached something of a standstill and stand-off juncture.

Nobody, including Minister Darragh O'Brien, appears to know what it is going to take to move forward. His consistent view, according to his replies to parliamentary questions by Mayo TDs, is that the ball is more in Mayo County Council's court, rather than his, in progressing matters.

So here we are at a point where those who announced this big project for Castlebar under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) are not sure at this point if it is going to go ahead or not, if one is reading the replies correctly.

Regrettably, all of the work that has gone into preparing plans for the old post office at Mountain View, the Mall, including the former Imperial Hotel, Rock Square and a section of the Military Barracks, is going to count for nothing, leaving another raft of political promises unfulfilled.

Adding to the complications is the issue of the Imperial Hotel which somebody with an interest in renovating old hotels wants to purchase but is taking an extraordinary long time in doing so.

All in all, the entire episode has eroded confidence in those responsible for getting these types of projects over the line, which leaves members of the watching public feeling very empty and perplexed, to say the least.

Not a very encouraging chapter in the recent history of our county town.