Republican News · Thursday 24 July 2003

Sinn Féin sets out plan for North West economy

On Monday, Sinn Féin elected representatives from the North West - Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Sligo, Leitrim and Fermanagh - met in Derry to discuss the party's plans for the economic and political regeneration of the region.

Speaking at a press conference afterwards, West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty said that radical and dramatic action was urgently required. He called on people throughout the North West to work together to ensure its needs are put at the top of the political agenda.

"For the last number of years, Sinn Féin has been to the fore in campaigning for the regeneration of the North West and for bringing together agencies and elected representatives in these six counties to work together to make this happen," he said. "We organised a number of economic conferences and initiatives and worked hard within our communities, in the Assembly and in Leinster House. Today Sinn Féin representatives in the North West met as a group to step up this work.

"There is a lot of anger and frustration that despite the bounty created for some by the Celtic Tiger economy and the peace dividends of recent years, serious underdevelopment persists in the North West region while newly generated wealth remains concentrated on the eastern seaboard. We all know that poor road quality, lack of sufficient energy and telecommunication facilities are serious deterrents to investment but little has been done by the Irish or British governments and indeed their partitionist approach has seriously exacerbated the problem.

"Sinn Féin has been working for an all-island solution to the structural discrimination of the North West. What is required is a strategy to create and develop an efficient and effective infrastructure, including a proper road and rail network, telecommunications and education services for the region."

Sinn Féin Agenda 2003

We demand the re-establishment of the political institutions in the Six Counties and demand that the Irish government moves forward on Northern representation in the Oireachtas

Mayor of Sligo Sean MacManus will host a major economic conference later this year which will bring together all of the chairs and mayors of councils in the North West and INI, IDA and Intertrade Ireland. This will be followed by a conference in Omagh in the spring, which will also include community groups.

We will meet with the Irish and British governments and campaign in Brussels on proposals surrounding infrastructure, rural regeneration, investment and jobs for the North West.

We will reach out to unionism, both in terms of rebuilding the peace process and building new relationships on the island for the future.

We will campaign to expand the work of the All-Ireland implementation bodies

We will support the demand for truth on collusion

We will work with communities across Ireland in support of rural regeneration and an end to the withdrawal of essential services.

We will campaign for an end to international calls on the island for fixed and mobile communication.