Minister gives own county the most funding
MINISTER Michael Ring’s constituency won the highest funding in a recreation scheme set up by his department, new figures show.
The Rural Development Minister, famous for his boasts about how much money his department has allocated to his native Mayo, has previously said that millions of euro in grants have gone to the county since he became minister in June of last year.
New figures show Mayo received €216,000, over €26,000 more than the next highest allocation given to a county under the scheme, which funds nature walks, hiking paths and other rural recreation projects.
Altogether, €1.82million was given out in the first round of this year’s outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme – nearly 12% of which ended up going to Co. Mayo.
The department defended the funding allocations saying that when populations were calculated, some other counties had actually done better than Mayo on a percapita basis.
There were 128 local projects funded around the country, with 11 of those selected in Co. Mayo.
Ten projects in Mr Ring’s constituency got €20,000 each in funding, the maximum award under this round of the scheme, while one got €16,000.
Most of the funding was for ‘repair and maintenance’, with projects benefitting including the Great Western Greenway between Westport and Achill and the Croaghpatrick Heritage Trail.
Others to benefit from the maximum grant were the Erris Head Loop Walk and the Foxford Way.
Some counties got hardly any funding with three receiving nothing at all: Donegal, Kildare, and Louth, although it is not clear how many applications were made from each of them.
Dublin was not eligible for ‘this rural scheme’, according to the department, though parts of Fingal are classified as rural for other funding.
Attempts to contact Mr Ring last night were unsuccessful.
Mr Ring has never been shy about advertising how much grant money he has won for Mayo since taking office. In January, he released a statement pointing out that he allocated over €8million in funding to Mayo since his appointment just six months earlier. The Westport-based TD explained that he approved the money for projects and schemes in the county through 17 different departmental schemes.
‘I’m delighted that in my first six months in the job I have been able to direct vital funds towards communities in Mayo and throughout the country.
‘With an increase of budget in 2018, to over €220million, 2018 will see an increased investment in programmes countrywide,’ his statement said at the time.
That funding in the first six months included €1.34million for 14 towns and villages under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, more than €1.33million of Leader Funding for 26 communities and businesses, €1.27million under the Local Improvement Scheme to improve rural private roads and over €1.24million under the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme.
On Minister Ring’s latest €216,000 funding for Mayo, a spokesman for the Minister said a total of 267 applications had been made for funding and that every one of the 128 eligible applications had been funded.
A spokesman for the Minister queried calculations based on population and said that when per capita figures were worked out, Sligo, Monaghan and Westmeath had actually done better than Mayo. Based on national population, Mayo received 11.8% of the fund despite the fact that its population is less than 3% of the total.
The spokesman said: ‘[That] calculation of the population includes Dublin which is not a recipient in this rural scheme. When Dublin’s population is excluded from this calculation, which it should be, the proportion of the population represented by Mayo and other counties increases.’
With Dublin excluded from the figure, Mayo still makes up less than 4% of the national population, but its share of the fund of course stays unchanged at just below 12%. Announcing the grants, Mr Ring said the projects would ‘enhance existing recreational facilities for the benefit of the communities, and also for the many tourists who enjoy visiting our rural areas’.
Projects funded including walking trail upgrades, route signage improvements, development of promotional materials, and provision of bike stands.
This is not the first time the constituency of Mr Ring has done well in funding decisions from his Department of Rural and Community Development.
Last year, from a €21million fund under the town and village scheme, Mayo got the single largest funding boost of €1.34million (just over 6% of the total fund).
Mr Ring’s home county also did well in previous rounds of the outdoor recreation scheme. Last year, from a pot of €11.4million, Mayo got just under 10% of the total.
Mr Ring had attracted criticism when appointed minister for appearing to suggest he would do his best to bring funding to his home county. He told a homecoming celebration at the time: ‘I will do the best that I can as a minister for this county, but particularly for this country. I will continue to bring all the money that I have brought into Ballina, and to Ballycastle, and to Killala, and every part of the county.’
128 projects funded around the country €8m in funding for Mayo in six months