The Western People, Wednesday 14th June 2000, page 9

Support building
for new city idea

by Majella Loftus

THE proposed new city for the West of Ireland has received support from all the main political parties, according to the promoters of the project, which envisages a magnificent space age city of about 100,000 inhabitants in mid-Mayo.

Mr. John Higgins, Progressive Democrats, Senator John O'Connor, Fine Gael and Noel Treacy, Fianna Fail have all given their approval to the plans for the new city, earmarked for the general vicinity of Knock airport.

The project is also expecting a positive response from Mr. Noel Dempsey, Minister for the Environ-ment. They have also received support from the Western bishops through their spokesman, Bishop Thomas Flynn in Ballaghadreen.

The project has been developed by Galway-based William A. Thomas and proposes a new pur-pose built, spatial, well-planned and designed, future-proofed city with spare capacity for subsequent growth.

Bishop Flynn of Achonry, one of the supporters of the project, told the "Western People" that "it is an exciting idea and worth looking into seriously with all the factors being taken into account."

Bishop Thomas Flynn

He said that this part of the country has been largely ignored and it is sad to see the young people moving away with this new venture there would be more accommodation and jobs for them. He continued that besides the development of housing and jobs, "there is no infrastructure in the West of high quality and it needs to be developed, there are a lot of open spaces and I welcome this new venture."

Mr. Noel Dempsey, Minister for the Environment has told the "Western People" that he will be looking at the plans from the per- spective of the National Spatial Strategy.

It is said that the city will give expression to Ireland as a modern, developed country. The new city will also include electrical and telecommunications traffic under- ground, an underground rail-net- work, a light rail system, under- ground car-parking and a complete infrastructure of roads, a sewage system especially designed for this city, an environmental rubbish dis-posal system, with emphasis on a re-cycling priority system and facili-ties in government buildings. The project developers have insisted that the project go to international tender to the world's best archi-tects and planners, who will incor- porate the best of Irishness into the new city.

It is felt by the project develop- ers that the new city is vital to the overall survival of the west. It can offer population stability to people who will have to leave at some point in their lives. "It will provide full employment for the West for the next 40 years, and opportuni-ties for its people unheard of until now. It will offer Ireland a chance to do the biggest project ever undertaken in the state, and it will become the show case of what Ire- land is really about."