Minister: ‘Online shopping hitting rural retailers’
The Minister for Rural Affairs says if so many people were not shopping online more rural retailers would be able to remain open. Fine Gael Minister Michael Ring was asked about the government’s plan for rural Ireland while on a visit to Sligo over the weekend. He hit out at…
Minister gives no clear committment on school transport in rural areas
Minister of State John Halligan says he has taken a number of short-term measures to protect the school transport scheme for rural areas. However, the Minister has failed to give any clear committment on the challenges rural communities are facing to retain services in the long-term. The Minister says he…
Most people in Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim still live in, what CSO calls, rural areas
Most people in Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim live in rural areas, according to the latest census figures from the Central Statistics Office. The census was carried out in April of 2016. It shows that despite more people living in towns and villages, most of the population in the three counties…
Sligo/Leitrim TD to introduce Bill in the Dail on rural decline
A Sligo/Leitrim TD is introducing a Bill to tackle what he says is discrimination against rural areas. Sinn Fein Deputy Martin Kenny is calling on Fianna Fail TDs, especially those in the North West, to support the Bill. It comes in the aftermath of the chairman of the Western Development…
New concerns over broadband for rural areas
A Fianna Fail councillor in the region is claiming the National Broadband Scheme is now unlikely to be in place until 2021 at the earliest. Cavan councillor John Paul Feeley was reacting to the latest announcement of a new broadband contract having been signed between the Department of Communications and…
Sligo councillors complain about plannning restrictions . . . but some relaxation coming
A number of Sligo councillors have hit out at what they see as excessive restrictions on people building homes in rural areas. The councillors aired their concerns at this week’s special council meeting to discuss the County Development Plan, which will cover the next six years. Some claimed, for example,…
Ireland 2040 plan aims to address rural urban divide
A new government plan which aims to strike a balance between urban and rural development is to be launched at noon. The ‘Ireland 2040’ scheme is being launched today and comes amid warnings that three-quarters of new homes will soon be clustered around Dublin, unless radical action is taken. The…