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Council’s ‘deal or no deal’
dilemma
24.03.07
Greencastle Harbour
should be designated a ‘special’ project qualifying
for 100% State funding, according to Donegal North
East election candidate Cllr. Padraig MacLochlainn.
The Sinn Fein representative said the Government’s insistence that Donegal
County Council foot a bill of €2 million - or 12.5 %
of the €16 million development - was a ‘stealth tax’
the ratepayers and working families of Donegal were
‘being forced to hand over to Dublin’.
As a result the local authority was now caught
between ‘the devil and the deep blue sea’ on the
issue. |
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“Greencastle is the
second largest harbour in Donegal and the breakwater
development is long overdue. However in recent
times, the Government, supported by Deputy Cecilia
Keaveney, has adopted the language of ‘deal or no
deal’ in pressurising Donegal County Council,” Cllr.
MacLochlainn. |
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“At a time when the
Donegal fishing fleet has been decimated and when
unemployment is four times the national average, the
Government is insisting that Donegal County Council
cough up 12.5% of the capital costs of this project.
“That stealth tax might be routine Government policy
across the country, but it’s neither moral nor fair
in relation to the Greencastle project.
Cllr. MacLochlainn said there was another solution.
“The Government should urgently designate the
breakwater development at Greencastle Harbour as a
special project that should receive 100% grant-aid.
That is the only moral and fair solution to this
issue,” he said. |
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