County’s first Heritage Officer to be appointed next year

ALMOST €5 million will be spent on the economic development and promotion of Wexford in 2020.

As part of this investment a newly formed Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) will continue to develop a number of projects throughout the county, among them Invest Wexford, The Hatch Lab and the Georgia Southern University International Learning Hub.

In total €13,988,373 will be spent on tourism, social inclusion, urban and village renewal, property management costs and the Local Enterprise Office (LEO).

However, with regards to the LEO, which accounts for €1,121,611 of the budget, Cllr Ger Carthy wished to ensure that money was being well spent. ‘There’s an increase of €150,000 for LEO. But we as a County Council haven’t really had a view of LEO and how it works. Are we getting the best possible value for it? Maybe that’s something we could look at in the next couple of months, see what benefits the county sees from it?’

Responding, Director of Services Tony Larkin said it would be easier to wait until the end of the year before carrying out an assessment of Wexford LEO.

During the discussion on Heritage and Conservation Services provision was made for the establishment of the post of Heritage Officer in Wexford County Council. Currently Wexford is the only county in Ireland never to have had such a post.

This provision follows on from a lengthy campaign by Sinn Féin councillor Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin who first made the proposal four years ago and received unanimous backing. The primary teacher from Gorey who is author of a number of historical publications said he was ‘delighted with the councils decision’.

Thanking the executive, he said, ‘For a county that is so rich in heritage and history as Co. Wexford, the establishment of such a position will be of great benefit and will help reap dividends in many ways in the years ahead.’

Speaking afterwards, Cllr Ó Súilleabháin stated, ‘Following the passing of another motion last year on the subject I received an incredible amount of positive feedback from individuals and groups from across tbe county who wish to see the Model county’s rich heritage offering celebrated and developed over the coming years.’