30 June 2024
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
The loss of a senior minister from Cork and the failure to nominate a Cork based TD as a cabinet attending junior minister has resulted in Cork City and County being politically overlooked and downgraded, according to Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins.
Deputy Collins, who represents Cork South West, was speaking following the nomination of the Cork based former Minister for Finance Michael McGrath as Ireland’s next EU Commissioner; the appointment of Mayo TD Dara Calleary as a cabinet attending Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the appointment of Kildare TD James Lawless as Minister of State at the Department of Transport:
“This is not personal as regards Dara and James, but given the geographical, political and economic importance of Cork city and county, it makes absolutely no sense to leave us in a position where the strength of our voice at cabinet has been diminished in this way,” said Deputy Collins.
“It was my hope that Government would have had the wit to understand the clear rationale at play here- that if you take a senior minister from the region then at least balance that out by nominating a super-junior who fully appreciates the key issues impacting the city and county. I clearly underestimated its capacity for strategic blunders.”
“As it now stands, we are in lose-lose scenario and that is what worries me.”
“I will certainly continue to do my level best, along with Independent Irelands local authority representatives, to ensure that the vast number of issues requiring urgent attention within the city and county do not suffer from this lack of political focus,” concluded Deputy Collins.
File photo of West Cork TD Michael Collins (Ind Irl)