SUNDAY PEOPLE   September, 17, 2000   page 20

HOME THOUGHTS: William Thomas hopes his plans for a brand new city
in the west of Ireland could begin to take shape in the next few years

Incredible ‘instant city’
could be built in west of Ireland

By TOM PRENDEVILLE

CONSTRUCTION work could begin on a £75 billion futuristic new city in a remote corner of Ireland within two years, Irish Sunday People can reveal.

William Thomas, managing director of Rockwell Shipping International, whose brain-child it was to build a new metropolis to rival Dublin, Belfast and Cork says he is just months away from getting the go-ahead.

Finance

He told a packed town hall meeting in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, two days ago, that he is confident that all the necessary finance will be in place within 12 months to fund the world's largest ever construction project.

The new city, which will initially be built to house a population of 100,000 people in the west of Ireland, has not yet been given a name.

Delegates at a recent public meeting chaired by the Bishop of Achonry, Dr Thomas Flynn, have already christened the project Atlantic City, with Tara running a close second.

The city will be located between the towns of Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown in Co Mayo.

It is in a region known as the Black Triangle, owing to it being the poorest part of Ireland with the highest rate of unemployment and outward emigration.

When the scheme was first mooted two years ago by Mr Thomas, a Galway-based naval consultant, critics were quick to point out that the proposed city wou1d quickly sink into the inhospitable bogs of the Black Triangle.

Now however, the world's largest construction company, Daewoo International, a South Korean multi-national corporation which builds everything from cars to jet fighters, is willing to back the project.

"The South Koreans are very enthusiastic about the city and see it as having huge potential.

"In the next few weeks they are sending over a development team to draw up conceptual plans for the project," he said.

Computer software tycoon Bill Gates and billionaire Ross Perot have also expressed serious interest in coming aboard the project as financial investors, he said.

Energy

"The location is perfect. The city will be adjacent to Knock International Airport and we will have two natural gas pipe lines coming ashore at Galway from the recently discovered Atlantic gas fields, which are three times bigger than the Celtic gas fields off the Cork coastline.

"Ireland will have enough natural gas to last at least 100 years and the city will have all its energy requirements met from the new pipe lines," he explained.

The government has already accepted the city plan in principle in its national spatial development plan, with major highway links planned to the area presently at the drawing board stage.

MY LITTLE TOWN: William maps out the future
for the city he believes will rival Dublin and Cork

Richard Branson will be visiting the region in the next two weeks and plans to construct a high speed rail link to Dublin.

"The rugged terrain of the west of Ireland is ideal for the use of his technologically-advanced tilted trains which will have a commuting time of just under 50 minutes to Dublin city centre," explained Mr Thomas.

Atlantic City or Tara, when it is completed, will boast tens of thousands of affordable houses complete with large spacious gardens and magnificent views of the surrounding mountain range scenery.

"This will be no Tallaght," said Mr Thomas. "It will be an architectural show piece".

Residents in the new metropolis can look forward to grid-lock free streets, spanking new cathedrals and a city centre modelled on the Georgian architectural style of the late 18th century, complete with wide streets, ornate parks and the cleanest air in Ireland.

If all goes according to plan the new city will be complete in 2007.

Famine

"By the year 2020 the population of southern Ireland will be six million - the highest since the Famine. Our existing cities are bursting at the seams and cannot cope.

"The new city will be the place to live, " he claimed.

Mr Thomas pointed out he had no personal vested interest in the development but merely wished to see the regeneration of the area.

The west, which has been the country's poorest region for centuries, looks set to enter the new millennium as the most desirable place to live in Ireland if Mr Thomas has his way.

Farmers who live in the Black Triangle could reap a fortune if the plan goes ahead.

"I can't wait, I've been poor all my life trying to farm stones and swamp. I feel like I've won the Lotto," said farmer Danny Brown.

"I guess if it does happen I won't be needing to draw the farmers' dole anymore."