CLLR ORLA LEYDEN CALLS ON IDA TO INVEST IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON

Cllr. Orla Leyden said that the IDA cannot keep ignoring the needs of County Roscommon. She said that the County is crying out for investment and job creation yet it is being ignored by the Fine Gael government and the IDA.

Most recent figures show that the IDA Ireland paid out grants of €89,326,201 in 2012 and yet County Roscommon received only €13,098. Meanwhile adjoining counties received funding of from €347,378 to €12,252,609 in 2012. Cllr. Orla Leyden asked how can County Roscommon recover economically if it is being starved of investment.

As the IDA plans its strategy for 2014, it is crucial that the Government now takes the need for regional fairness seriously and targets job creation in County Roscommon.

It’s proven that when the IDA focuses on investment in a certain area, that area benefits from job creation. The infrastructure network is excellent and with a highly educated potential workforce from Roscommon. In 2004 the IDA completed a €2 million upgrade to the Business & Technology Park on the Racecourse Road to bring the Park to Flagship Status within the IDA Property Portfolio and that there was no excuse that this park which has 7 HA (c. 17 acres) is not being used by government to bring foreign direct investment to Roscommon. It is a fantastic park that has been designed and landscaped to a high standard including a services infrastructure to suit both manufacturing and international services sectors. The county has all the ingredients for Foreign Direct Investment. The Government and IDA need to prioritise Roscommon for Foreign Direct investment

Cllr. Leyden concluded by saying that she is challenging the Fine Gael Government and the Government T.D. Frank Feighan to deliver employment to Roscommon and ensure IDA investment and job creation in the County. IDA job creation in Roscommon has to move beyond Monksland, the rest of the County is crying out for investment.

Join Our Boys – Together we can move mountains!

Last Night I was at a really positive meeting in Roscommon Town full of people wanting to help, Archie, George & Isaac by getting involved in the Join Our Boys campaign: http://joinourboys.org/

Archie (8), George (4) & Isaac (4) are fun loving adorable boys. They have been diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease that destroys muscle tissue. DMD is typically diagnosed in children between the ages of 3 and 7. It almost exclusively affects boys, causing them to be wheelchair bound, usually between 8 – 12 years of age and leaves them fighting for their lives by their late teens to early twenties. In the Republic of Ireland, at this time there are known to be approximately 110 people living with DMD; the majority of these are under 18 years of age. In the UK, 100 boys a year are born with DMD and 2 boys die each week of the disease, making it one of the world’s biggest genetic killers.

There is a severe lack of funding for research into DMD Internationally. There is no treatment or cure at present…we need to change this. Together we can create awareness of DMD,  raise funds to ensure Archie, George and Isaac have the additional resources they require to function; to remain mobile for as long as is possible and to live a life filled with purpose and meaning, despite their physical limitations and find a treatment for Archie, George and Isaac and all the other children affected by DMD in Ireland and the World. Paula and Padraic you are wonderful parents and truly inspiring.

Together we can move mountains!

Join Our Boys Today.

I issued a statement this lunchtime confirming that I will run in the new Roscommon Castlerea area.

I will seek a nomination in the new Roscommon Castlerea area for the Local Elections next year.
http://www.shannonside.ie/news/battle-lines-drawn-for-local-elections/