THE draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) cannot be accepted by Limerick City and County Council.
That’s the opinion of Mayor James Collins, who addressed a special meeting on the draft document at County Hall this Monday.
He believes the strategy will create a two-tier economy, with prioritised boarding for Dublin and Cork, classified as international cities for development. Limerick, meanwhile, is classified as a second-tier ‘regional city’.
“Let nobody be in any doubt – this strategy document will cleave a wedge between Cork and Limerick, at a time when Cork and Limerick should be working together, developing in tandem, into interlinked centres of economic growth, balanced and planned cities than can counterbalance an overheating Dublin,” the City West representative declared.
“Two out of every five people in Ireland live in Dublin. One out of every two workers in this State works in Dublin. We need to grow Cork and Limerick and Galway, grow the South, Mid-West, and West, to address the imbalance at the heart of our economy.
“Dublin accounts for 50 per cent of Ireland’s GDP. London, by comparison, accounts for only 22 per cent of the UK’s GDP. So the imbalance in Ireland is obvious.”
Mayor James Collins maintains the strategy document should be putting Limerick and Cork together to work in their mutual interests. Instead it sets them apart and puts them on two different roads.
“This strategy will see Cork quickly expanding into an ‘international city’ paired for development with Dublin. Cork will be the ‘principal complementary location to Dublin with a strong international role, a primary driver of economic and population growth in the southern region’.
“So having given the South over to Cork, what does the strategy document have to say about Limerick? It says very little, and what it doesn’t say speaks volumes.
“This strategy document tells us Cork is an international city, but Limerick is a regional one. Limerick is not going to be some second-tier economy playing second fiddle to Cork,” he added.
Sinn Féin councillor Séighin Ó Ceallaigh suggested that the draft strategy claims to work for the Metropolitan Area in the headlines, but not in the details.
“This myth of the Metropolitan Area simply isn’t correct, it’s coloured in on a few maps but nothing is planned for the areas outside of the city. The Regional Plan claims to be working for all of the district, but there is no substance when it comes to villages or to rural Limerick,” he claimed.
“Villages such as Castleconnell, Murroe and Caherconlish don’t feature in this plan, despite being a short distance from the city, with many people who live there, working in the city. Rural areas are practically non existent, with the plan possibly looking to do more damage to rural Limerick with a lack of planning and investment.”
