Important developments for Midwest region

zulutango

There doesn't seem to be a specific Midwest forum, so this is the next best place to put this thread as Limerick is the centre of the Midwest region. It's not ideal, but in the absence of a Midwest forum there appears to be nowhere else to put this that will facilitate the discussion that the topic deserves. I do think the 'county' forums should be got rid of altogether as these divisions don't have much relevance beyond GAA and existing local administrations.

Shannon Airport
Yesterdays news that Shannon airport, which is one of the key pieces of infrastructure in the region, will finally be separated from the Dublin Airport Authority may be great news for everybody. It's certainly good news for the Midwest, and it's more than likely good news for the rest of the country too.

This is about much more than having a commercially viable airport that offers employment to the region, and easy access to the rest of Europe and world. The decision has the potential to be far more significant than that. It gives the Midwest a good chance of positioning itself as the most viable location for the counter-balance to the Dublin metro region. Dublin, which is heaving under the strain of chronic bad planning (or lack of planning) over many decades needs this counter-balance as much as the rest of the country does. In thirty years we may well be looking back on this date as the turning point for Ireland and the Midwest.

County Amalgamation
There's other very big things happening too. The recent amalgamation of Limerick's and Tipperary's two local authorities is more than likely a forerunner to a switch to proper regional governance, and an abolition of the county structure of local government. Ideally, all the local authorities of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary should have been brought into the one regional administration, but this was clearly a bridge too far for the government. The decision to join North and South Tipperary was a retrograde step and doesn't make much sense. North Tipp is, realistically, part of the Midwest and South Tipp is part of the Southeast.

These two developments offer the Midwest (and Ireland too) a great chance in the future. It's important that we understand the potential and now move to realise it.

campo

Dont understand why the Govt does not sell Shannon Airport the place is like a ghost town and it would bring in some much needed funds

Insect Overlord

zulutango wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be a specific Midwest forum, so this is the next best place to put this thread as Limerick is the centre of the Midwest region. It's not ideal, but in the absence of a Midwest forum there appears to be nowhere else to put this that will facilitate the discussion that the topic deserves.

How did you manage to miss this? Midwest.

zulutango wrote: »

I do think the 'county' forums should be got rid of altogether as these divisions don't have much relevance beyond GAA and existing local administrations.

That's never going to happen.

Thread closed.