Knock airport SDZ and rail link priorities for new Claremorris-Swinford MD cathaoirleach

PROGRESSING the Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) at Knock airport along with a link to the airport as part of the Western Rail Corridor are among the key priorities for the new cathaoirleach of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District (MD).

Fine Gael Councillor Neil Cruise was the unanimous choice for the position at today's annual general meeting, where he takes over at the helm from Councillor Michael Burke. Fianna Fáil's Councillor Damien Ryan was ratified as leas-chathaoirleach, also unopposed.

Setting out his stall for the year ahead, Councillor Cruise also wants all of the county's Oireachtas members to attend a meeting with Mayo County Council where local representatives can outline five priority projects for the county that they want their full support on to deliver in the short to medium term.

Speaking on developments in his own locality, the Foxford-based councillor wants to see the ongoing issue with the town centre pedestrian crossing resolved along with progressing the blueway and putting Pontoon back on the map.

On the wider MD, Councillor Cruise noted that the district covers an area from Shraheens in Foxford to Shrule in south Mayo, with one-third of the county's councillors. And going forward, they wanted an equal share of funding coming to the county.

Keeping the pressure on for the delivery of the SDZ, the cathaoirleach asked for a report at their next meeting in September and for quarterly reports thereafter. It is coming up to six years since it was created and they need to see progress on it, he stated.

On the rail corridor, getting it into Claremorris was no mean feat and compared to the Metro North project in Dublin which is running at a cost of up to €16 billion, bringing a rail link to Ireland West Airport would be a cost-effective measure at €500 million.

Proposing her party colleague for the position of chair, Councillor Alma Gallagher said Councillor Cruise was an honest voice in local politics, not afraid to voice his opinion, who brought a practical approach and was willing to listen, believing that solutions will follow from people working together.

Tribute was also paid at the meeting to outgoing cathaoirleach Councillor Burke for his leadership over the past year, representing the MD at local, national and international level.

* Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme