Council chief backs Athlone City plan

The chief executive of Roscommon County Council has welcomed the Athlone City Project, and pledged his support for it.

Following a presentation on the plan by the Ballymore Group at the January plenary meeting, Mr Shane Tiernan said he fully supported the proposal.

“I don’t think there is a CE in the country who wouldn’t relish the thought of a city like that developing in their local authority area,” he said.

He added that both he and Ballymore Group CEO Sean Mulryan were very passionate about the development of Knock Airport, saying it was pivotal to this county and region.

“We have met with my counterpart in Westmeath and the economic forum,” he said. “This has all the ingredients of a super city, it has all the ingredients of what we in local authorities want to see for our towns.”

Mr Tiernan said the project was a “tremendous plan” which needed to be driven forward by decision makers, including endorsement from the Department of the Taoiseach.

He agreed with Mr Mulryan’s estimation that the project needed a billion euro a year for the first five years.

“That’s significant investment but we have to look at the return, and the long term return with be phenomenal, not just for Roscommon but for the entire West of Ireland. A vehicle with a strong leader is needed now to drive this forward.”

*Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme