Fianna Fail ‘border candidate’ Niall Blaney says if he’s elected to the European Parliament, he’ll make sure border counties get top billing in the EU.
Senator Niall Blaney, who’s the only border candidate in Midlands-North West with hands-on farming experience, says for too long, the border region has been neglected.
The Donegal Senator said: “For too long, our border counties of Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan Louth and my home county of Donegal have been relegated to a backwater. Our case wasn’t put with strength and conviction in the corridors of power in Brussels and Strasbourg.
“Our five border counties were poorly represented. We can fix that on June 7th by electing me. I will have your back and stretch every sinew to see to it that our needs are recognised and action taken to provide a level playing field.
“We’re way behind the east and south of our country and that isn’t good enough. Those who represented us were asleep at the wheel.
“Farmers were treated as second-class citizens and that was wholly wrong and grossly unfair. I will have their backs in Europe and argue strongly for an extension of the Nitrates Derogation and seek a much greater budget on a new CAP.
“Migration has to be confronted and solutions found. Our towns are bursting at the seams. Our public services, including health and schools, are stretched beyond capacity. Illegals who are here have to be processed without unnecessary delay to ease the pressure on our towns and villages. An aid package promised by Leo Varadkar last year to ease pinch points in population centres never materialised and that is unacceptable.
On infrastructure, the border counties must get special attention from the EU. We want to create a corridor from border counties into the west to help us attract new investment and create high-value jobs. Objective One status should mean our roads are upgraded and it’s imperative we see investment in rail. Our four outgoing MEPs have failed in this regard.
“Our position in the EU ‘league table’ has slipped to a worrying level. Out of 234 designated regions in the EU, we sit at 218th for infrastructure. That’s close to the bottom on the Index alongside some of the poorest regions such as Romania and Bulgaria.
“We have been allowed to languish in the EU backwater long enough. My Border Manifesto will be the first step in correcting past mistakes.
“I want to stop the brain drain. This can only be done by building the infrastructure that will truly make us an Objective One area. It’s only when we become more accessible that industries will start taking us seriously and create the jobs that will keep our young people at home. That is nothing more than we deserve.
“The 10 years of apathetic representation by MEPs who failed this constituency are over. Give me your Number 1 on June 7th, and I’ll make sure Donegal is put back where it belongs – right at the heart of where all the key decisions that affect all our lives are made. It’s time we pushed through to get top billing in Europe.”
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