Mayo miles from top table on delivery of new homes

A son of Aughagower has wiped the lenses of the global façade clean, announcing – without a hint of hesitation – that the old multi-polar order is over and that we are entering an era of instability, with imperialist states once again vying for supremacy within their own regions.

Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has taken the mantle as one of the few global leaders willing to tell it as it is, and now settles into the history books for stating: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

His performance last year at the White House pointed towards a plan of attack that was not forthcoming from our own leader, Micheál Martin.

Indeed, the performance of former Taoiseach Enda Kenny - a prescient, grounded speech that reminded a US president that St. Patrick, too, was an immigrant - now seems a distant memory in Irish-US relations.

We need America, but do we really need to be, in the words of Conor McGregor, “looked after by our big bro”?

Martin was humiliated in Washington, siphoned in early and shuttled out before the real Irish “bros” arrived for the party – like inviting your aunt to your 21st, bringing her over for tea and sandwiches before the real debauchery begins.

Unfortunately for Irish political discourse, this is where we find ourselves.

Most local village and town St. Patrick’s Day parade committees haven’t met, yet opposition TDs in the Dáil are already parroting complaints about cosying up to Trump before anything has even occurred.

Ireland exists on a tightrope. It is a wealthy, silk-woven one compared to the lives of those who came before us, but we are not going to tip the global scales with our military strength, nor will we garner much more than the odd think-piece in the Wall Street Journal.

The least we can be, however, is virtuous in speech and Kenny showed how that can be done.

For the opposition to continue lambasting the government over geopolitical events is proof of what is often labelled the “student-union politics of the left."

It appears that the “woke issue du jour” dominates for the Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit, while pressing realities at home remain unspoken.

This government knows it can get away with almost anything because the opposition allows it.

There is no serious insurgency forthcoming and, most gallingly, the very concept of rural Ireland has been stolen by their partners in government – millionaires in flat caps who hoard wealth and property, pushing private interests while manufacturing a twee, folksy countryside aesthetic.

Rural Ireland is not a concept to be gate-kept. There is no single pure rural household, and what is considered a rural pursuit in one parish may belong to the townie in another.

The one galvinsing saying uttered to the children of rural Ireland by their parents is you’re as good as anyone and better than no one. Perhaps this gives reason as to why Conor McGregor is a product of Dublin.

What TDs should be spending time on is why newly manufactured urban areas in our capital can stand tall while the west continues to lag behind. In typical Mayo fashion, there is a way for us to claim this success too.

The son of Mayo parents, Jack Chambers, holds a notable distinction. At the very least, he has increased his vote share heading towards the next general election, even as he was hauled over the coals over the inept Jim Gavin affair.

Within Chambers’ constituency of Dublin West there is not only the best-performing area in Ireland for housing delivery, but Blanchardstown/Mulhuddart is the best in Europe.

A Castleknock man who first represented the area as a councillor, Chambers has overseen a remarkable pace of development in his vast home turf.

A glance at the figures tells its own story. In Q2 of last year, 501 homes were completed in Blanchardstown/Mulhuddart, with a further 230 completed in Q3.

During the same period, Mayo’s best-performing local electoral area was Castlebar, with just 23 completions.

The following quarter, Westport and Castlebar shared the honours with 28 each. CSO figures for Q4 2025 are still to be published, but it is unlikely to tell a different story.

Chambers represents one of the youngest constituencies in the country, with a rapidly growing population.

While it is true that newcomers gravitate towards the capital where there are jobs and opportunities, why is this area outperforming not just Mayo, but the entire country and continent when it comes to getting homes built?

Drogheda Rural is another area blowing it out of the park, with 179 and 129 homes completed in Q2 and Q3 respectively last year.

In Mayo, we appear content with smaller schemes, ribbons cut for four homes that barely scratch the surface, leaving a sizeable cohort of young people stuck living with their parents, unable to secure a home of their own.

Has Mayo County Council’s housing SPC examined what makes these eastern counterparts so much more effective? Are the same resources allocated here?

Questions must be asked as to whether government policy has quietly abandoned the oft-spoken concept of balanced regional development altogether.

At the very least, take off the cap, drop the accent and finish with the fakery.

What, exactly, is the purpose of a cabal of rural independents in government if the reality is a larger Dublin and an ever-weaker rural Ireland?

Like Carney’s three grandparents who departed Aughagower, their grandson now sits at the highest table in Canada.

Once, their lineage was the thing on the menu. They acted and found opportunity elsewhere. Ireland was not going to provide it.

Today, it is still those of us in the western rural counties who are being eaten alive by depopulation, underdevelopment and, as the data shows, a complete lack of political will.

The world may be changing all around us, but the sorry tale remains the same in dear old Mayo.