Labour’s Cosgrove backs re-opening of Western Rail Corridor

Cllr. Cosgrove said: "I have taken my time to study, and to reflect upon, all the issues surrounding the Western Rail Corridor and am delighted to confirm that, should I be elected to Dail Eireann at the next General Election, implementing the Western Rail Corridor will be high up on my agenda and I will be strongly advocating for it should the Labour Party be involved in Programme for Government talks after the General Election.

"The expansion of public transport options within the North West forms a large part of my Election campaign. Throughout the region, in rural areas, as well as urban and village centres, we have seen the benefits which expanded Local Link services have brought. It is not too much to say that Local Link has transformed life for many people. People are able to travel much more easily, and with a much lower environmental impact to school, college, work, and to socialise. I would like to see not only the further expansion of bus services, but also the rail network. This in conjunction with the Labour Party's €9 per month climate ticket for public transport will revolutionise the Irish people's relationship with public transport, buses and trains"

"For too long the Government parties, along with long-standing Sligo-based, politicians from all political perspectives, have been content to let the status-quo stand. They have been happy to treat the reinstatement of a rail link between Sligo to Claremorris, a link to Knock Airport, and ultimately onwards to Galway and Limerick, as a pipe-dream, something that is a nice idea but will never happen.

"That is why I am delighted to announce that should I be elected, and should the Labour Party form part of the next Government, that re-instating the currently disused, but still existing, 75km rail link between Collooney and Claremorris, will receive my strongest backing. This project will be the Spine of Connaught around which the Region will develop and grow"

She continued: "The Party has committed €2.5 billion to major public transport infrastructure projects. The Western Rail corridor is a project which emphasises the importance which we place upon the region and its development. For too long, locally based politicians in Sligo, Leitrim and South-Donegal have been content to treat the North-West as a series of small, local towns and individual communities.

"By contrast I view the North-West as a Region. A Region which has abundant natural resources, an immensely talented and growing population. The North-West has huge potential for cultural, educational and economic growth. What it doesn't have is a political class who have the vision and drive to achieve this potential."

"The re-instatement of the line will benefit the whole region economically, not just Sligo as companies backed by the IDA and other firms anxious to open new facilities in the Region, support this project as a means of transporting both goods and people in a more environmentally friendly manner. These organisations do not choose to base their facilities based on county boundaries. They already view us as region, the Atlantic Economic Corridor.

"The rail line will benefit the region educationally. There are 40,000 students based between Sligo and Galway. The links between campuses have led to the creation of ATU and the further expansion of educational opportunities.

"My full-time job is as a Youth Co-Ordinator with the Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB), so I know first hand the Further Education and Training opportunities which abound regionally through the MSLETB."

Cllr Cosgrove concluded: "The West has huge potential, but has been hamstrung through decades of deliberate underinvestment. Now there is an opportunity to really bring about a greater balance in Regional Development. Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal can, in conjunction with Mayo, Galway, Clare and Limerick, compete with Dublin and the East Coast on a level-playing field. In so many ways we are already, conceptually, a unified region. By implementing the Western Rail Corridor, as the spine of Connaught, we will make that concept, and the rebirth of a region a reality."