Mayo cathaoirleach meets Taoiseach to discuss priorities for forthcoming term

THE Fine Gael cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council has met Taoiseach Simon Harris to discuss the priority areas that he and other councillors hope to deliver on over the next five years.

Councillor John O’Hara was among seven Fine Gael councillors currently serving as chairpersons and mayors in local authorities nationwide that met with the Taoiseach in Government Buildings yesterday evening.

The meeting provided the opportunity for FG representatives to discuss with the Taoiseach their priority areas and projected deliverables for the next local authority term, which is set to run up until 2029.The meeting was also attended by party frontbench and junior ministers.

Ballina councillor John O’Hara, who was elected cathaoirelach of Mayo County Council last month, said: “There are a number of priorities that we hope to address over the coming term.

“First among them is traffic congestion. It can take an hour to get from one side of Ballina town to the other and it is not good in for business locally.

“We will be pressing for progress on the long awaited Ballina orbital route to alleviate the problem. The N26 upgrade between Ballina and Swinford is another project that needs to be completed. This is vital to ensure connectivity in the county for residents, businesses and visitors alike.

“There has been a proposed IDA industrial park in the town of Ballina, with planning permission that had been acquired for the site having since expired. My colleagues and I will work with the relevant stakeholders to ensure there is action on this so it will bring significant social and economic benefits to the region.

“Councillors will also work towards progressing the Crossmolina flood relief scheme.”

Added Councillor O'Hara: “I want to thank Taoiseach Simon Harris for taking the time to meet us as a group and to hear what councillors intend to deliver on behalf of the people of Mayo.

“It was also very positive that we got to engage with senior Fine Gael ministers and to raise matters relative to their portfolios.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “We had positive engagement and our councillors intend to build on the progress made with a with a set of priorities that will guide our work over the next five years. These include more ambition on housing, backing small businesses and enterprise, better public services and infrastructure and healthy and sustainable communities.

“I look forward to the work of the Fine Gael team in delivering on the shared ambition we have to improve peoples’ lives.”