Dossier gives revealing glimpse of Mayo's ambitious and bright future

The Castlebar-Westport supertown is back firmly on the horizon

Well, the ambitions of Mayo County Council, as outlined in its pre-draft of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) submission to the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, set out some lofty targets for the county.

The Castlebar-Westport supertown is back firmly on the horizon.

Once believed to have lost momentum, despite the ten-minute commute along the Ring Road, little has been raised about advancing the supertown concept in recent sittings of Mayo's councillors.

Westport, of course, sits alongside Belmullet and Achill in its municipal district, while Castlebar has its own domain. Only at full council meetings do their representatives get to sit amongst each other.

Still, the advancement of the linked regional hub could finally solve a quandary Mayo has faced for decades in terms of regional planning. Under the eyes of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Mayo could finally have a combined urban centre with the population and employment base to compete with Letterkenny and Sligo.

A study is underway, according to Mayo's pre-draft submission, with the aim of better attracting inward investment to the two towns while offering an "unparalleled quality of life along the west coast."

Change itself is the only constant in life, and it's less good news for Ballina. We thank you for the green and red colours that continue to be adorned in celebration across the county, but according to this plan, you're Sligo's problem now.

The map itself shows the north Mayo town falling under the influence of the Yeats County due to its proximity to Sligo town.

Meanwhile, the eastern bypass in Ballina, aka the famed third bridge over the River Moy, gets no airing.

If that was bad, it's worse for Belmullet.

Ryan O'Donoghue country was set for a major boost in 2019. A port of European importance would help scale Ireland's offshore renewable energy ambitions, creating a living, breathing industrial Gaeltacht that could experience once-in-a-lifetime growth.

The deceleration of offshore development, despite government commitments, an inadequate grid and the ferocity of the Atlantic Ocean, which has seen investors favour the more clement seas of the east coast, have effectively eradicated that proposal.

Belmullet, in the 2026 plan, is consigned to a mere Gaeltacht service town, one whose wastewater treatment system is already at capacity and whose primary link (the R312) to Mayo's proposed supertown has been "historically underinvested in."

What is doubly concerning is that the report flags that 652 kilometres of Mayo's 1,168 kilometres of coastline are at risk of coastal erosion.

The infrastructure asks now centre on upgrading piers and harbours. A much more modest ambition.

Plans to better link Ballina to the holy grail of the N5 are also included, although these are works that were mentioned back in 2019.

Ballina is moving, but not at the pace councillors, traders and commuters would be satisfied with. Full eastern and western bypasses are needed, yet Mayo County Council is still at the point of seeking improved connectivity via the N26 and N58 to the county's major link road.

The oft-mooted Ballinrobe bypass is also noted for its lack of funding and progress.

With evidence suggesting that the majority of traffic gridlocking the town is through traffic, the need for a bypass remains imperative.

There's news of a potential new freight hub for Castlebar too, Ballina will continue to operate as a key hub and the pre-draft submission states that it "remains the most significant rail freight terminal outside Dublin, supporting industry and contributing to a transition toward a lower-carbon regional economy."

However, a strategic objective is for Castlebar to see its own freight hub materialise. With the aim outlined: "To advance, by 2030, a strategic regional rail freight hub at the Cloonagh lands in Castlebar, improving multimodal connectivity and supporting industry, logistics efficiency, and regional economic development."

Three green energy parks are mooted for Mayo - Killala, Bellacorick and one within the Ireland West Airport Strategic Development Zone (SDZ).

Fascinatingly, the local authority notes the need to diversify away from onshore wind, toward green hydrogen, bioenergy and solar in Mayo's sunny south east, welcome relief for residents rallying to halt wind farms in north Mayo, bad news for the developers of said wind farms.

The submission outlines the concept as a strategically planned area integrating multiple forms of renewable energy generation, such as wind, solar and biomass, with supporting infrastructure including energy storage, grid connections and emerging technologies such as hydrogen production, often alongside compatible industrial or commercial uses.

Industry in two regions experiencing population decline, east and north Mayo, would provide a much-needed boost.

Killala, Crossmolina and Ballycastle have all recorded population losses since the 1990s, while Kiltimagh and Swinford have also declined.

Green energy parks in these locations would create opportunities and, under this plan, represent the primary development ambitions for the county outside the regional hub of Castlebar and Westport.

A major stumbling block, however, is the grid connection quagmire.

Mayo County Council has submitted requests for a 220kV line and a 400kV line to transport the energy generated in the county to where it is needed. That will require significant investment and a level of urgency that has been sorely lacking to date.

The frustration of the council's chief executive regarding An Coimisiún Pleanála's refusal of the Killala data centre was significant at the most recent council meeting.

He expressed major dissatisfaction with the decision, informing elected representatives that the developers had been told by EirGrid to secure planning permission first, after which the grid connection could be determined, only for the proposal to fail over the lack of a grid connection.

It has served as a major blow to the Killala element of the proposed energy park. With the fibre-optic cable landing there and council support for the development, further submissions are likely.

It's a notable and hefty document, although little is mentioned with regard to housing or health.

The ETB training centre at the Military Barracks gets a fair airing. With 1,000 students expected, it will become a major player in the fabric of Castlebar, while the need to progress the Claremorris-Collooney section of the Western Rail Corridor is also noted.

Mayo needs further investment, and these are ambitious asks.

But a great deal of infrastructure must first be delivered if the county is to attract further pharmaceutical investment to Castlebar and Westport, and large energy users to Bellacorick, Killala and Ireland West Airport.

Grid upgrades beyond the existing 110kV underground lines need to progress.

That will continue to be the pinch point, and ultimately the deciding factor in whether this document becomes a blueprint for Mayo's future or another ambitious plan that never quite makes it off the page.