Henry fighting for regional re-balancing in Europe

A SLIGO County Councillor has succeeded in getting a policy document on address regional imbalances adopted by a group of young European politicians. Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Henry recently proposed his policy “Connecting Regions” on behalf of his party at a gathering of young politicians in Stockholm, Sweden. “This policy calls for greater European Investment support to member states to provide better road and public transport links between regions in order to make them more competitive among the ‘super regions’ that are exist across Europe” Cllr Henry said.

The young South Sligo politician is no stranger to European Policy development having served as Chair of a Common Agricultural Policy Review Group since 2015 and had an academic article on regional development published. “The regional challenges we face here in the North West of Ireland in terms of poor infrastructure hindering economic development are replicated in almost every other EU state. But the EU can be a solution if stakeholders prioritise addressing this imbalance” he added.

Cllr Henry who studied Regional Development as part of his teaching degree said he was “thankful to the other parties who supported the document and proposed amendments. It’s now on the agenda for discussion among the other political parties that were present at the conference. They will work with their MEP’s as will Fianna Fáil as part of the ALDE Group in the EU Parliament to tease out the issues and possible solutions proposed.”

“The policy proposed isn’t about pitting Dublin against other regions. Rather it’s about looking creatively at how we can ensure that regions can develop alongside each other in a healthy competitive manner that will benefit countries as a whole” he said.

Keith was also elected as a delegate to the ALDE Congress which will be held later this year having secured 104 votes from the delegates present.