Mayor James Collins: 'plan will cleave a wedge between Cork and Limerick'

MAYOR James Collins has renewed his criticism of a new regional strategy which, he claims will “cleave a wedge between Cork and Limerick.”

A special meeting took place at County Hall this Monday afternoon on the controversial new Regional Spatial and Economic strategy, which many fear will see Leeside develop at the expense of Shannonside.

The mayor said: “This strategy document 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,” he said, “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% of Ireland’s GDP. London, by comparison, accounts for only 22% of the UK’s GDP. So the imbalance in Ireland is obvious. This strategy document should be putting Limerick and Cork together to work in their mutual interests, instead it sets them apart -  and literally sends them on two different roads,” he told the meeting.

Mayor Collins vowed: “Limerick is not going to be some second-tier economy playing second fiddle to Cork. As a city we want to grow our population by 100,000 by 2030. This plan links our development in with Shannon and says that together, Limerick and Shannon should only grow by 50,000. It’s there in no uncertain terms - the government department authors of this report - have half the ambition, half the vision, that we have for a future Limerick.”

It will ultimately be up to members of the Southern Regional Assembly to decide on whether the plan is  adopted. They meet on the third Monday of each month in Waterford.

For more coverage on the special meeting, see The Leader, out Wednesday morning and the weekend edition, out Thursday morning.