North west has huge potential which must be realised - Cowen
HELPING farming and agriculture, progressing the transition to sustainable power and rebuilding closer infrastructure links with the North are on the priority list for Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen.
Fianna Fáil last week chose Offaly TD – and former Agriculture Minister – Cowen to be their candidate for the North West-Midlands constituency in June’s European Elections.
This year will make it 10 years since Pat Gallagher’s defeat at the polls to end the party’s European presence in the area.
With the constituency being expanded to absorb Laois and Offaly – not to mention being given an extra seat to bring its total up to five – Cowen is aiming to ensure the region has a Fianna Fáil presence once again.
He said: “There are three issues I expect will dominate (this campaign).
“Two of those will be around farming and agriculture, the transition to sustainable power generation transcends both the North West and the Midlands. I also think there’s huge potential and the ambition of government is not as great as it could be in relation to the west coast with the offshore capability and the capacity that is there.
“I think it could be part of a pan-European project that could generate €300billion, it is estimated, by 2050. It could also allow the regions to have first call from that energy because of the scarcity and the lack of security that unfortunately exists today.
“The North West and Midlands regions also don’t have the relevant infrastructure to accept and distribute. Food production and farming has to seek to align food production systems to environmental ambitions with consumer sentiment.
“But must be done in a way where you’re mindful that the three pillars of farm income, the rural economy and the environmental initiatives.
“There’s a tendency of many, which I see mainly in the Green (Party) if I may say so, over the environmental initiatives without necessarily having first made the substantial invest or carrot of reward for those who participate – because we all benefit thereafter.
“That has created a bit of acrimony, a bit of unrest and it’s an imbalance I’d like to see if I could play a part in addressing.
“The third issue relates to defending our own tax regime. At present we have record levels of employment, low levels of unemployment, record levels of export and revenue sources.
“Our corporate tax is consistently yielding north of €20billion compared to €3billion 10 years ago. All that we do nationally and internationally are predicated on good revenue resources.”
The improvement of the existing road and rail infrastructure will also be a factor in this election and Cowen sees the restoration of government in the North at Stormont as a key factor in connecting the North West and Midlands with the North.
He added: “The likes of the A5 in the North is an example – much has been made over that and I know the EU provided funding towards its initial design.
“Now with the North government back in place, the North-South bodies that helped and assisted in order to drive some of these projects can now come into that project in a way in which they couldn’t without a North government being in place.
“With Europe having made an initial contribution, I would hope there would be further contributions to develop the regions – which in some cases, have dragged behind the others because of major deficiencies such as a quick, broader rail link between our cities, towns and major centres of population.”