Fine Gael promises €1bn for rural Ireland while attacking Fianna Fáil on broadband plan
Fine Gael has promised to inject more than €1bn into investments in job creation and projects in towns and villages across rural Ireland.
Leading party figures attacked the opposition over their proposals for rural Ireland, warning these would let isolated parts of the country down and result in less roads and stalled broadband.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney also insisted that Fine Gael is unfazed by recent disappointing opinion poll results and instead had been “motivated”.
Launching its rural Ireland plans, Fine Gael set out plans to pump €1bn into rural Ireland with funds targetted at towns and villages with populations of less than 10,000.
“We will implement nine regional enterprise plans, following the successful implementation of the nine regional action plan for jobs, so that we focus on what every region does best," Mr Coveney said.
We will also deliver key infrastructural projects under Project Ireland 2040 including the M20 Cork to Limerick and the N5 Westport to Turlough.
He warned that the Greens and Fianna Fáil may turn their back on planned road projects under the national roads programmes.
The Greens, in particular, have targetted Mayo and oppose a near quarter of a billion euro spend there on a road, backed by Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring.
Mr Ring and Mr Coveney pledged that, if returned to government, Fine Gael would double the funding of Údarás na Gaeltachta to support companies and produce a new tourism strategy for the Gaeltacht.
However, some of the other priorities had little detail and only referenced empowering local authorities, activating online portals for rural groups and potential new strategies for island communities and outdoor recreation.
Nonetheless, the Fine Gael ministers attacked Fianna Fáil during its launch in Tipperary.
Mr Coveney warned that Fianna Fáil had threatened to abandon the national broadband plan, with some 1.1 million people still without access to high-speed internet.
“What I would like to hear from Micheál Martin is what is his solution for broadband because I don't believe he has one. And I believe he will end up supporting the national broadband scheme which he has tried to undermine in a populist way over the last six months,” he said.
He said he is not worried by recent polls, which puts Fianna Fáil ahead of Fine Gael. On the contrary, this had “motivated” the party, he said.
Fianna Fáil, in its last three years of power, had overseen 356,000 job losses, explained Mr Coveney, adding: “As this campaign moves on, I believe people will focus on the key issue of who do you trust to take the country forward?”
Mr Coveney also denied he would have been better leading Fine Gael for the election and instead defended Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
“Leo Varadkar's leadership is only two years old. He is new to the job and he has done an extraordinary amount of work since becoming Taoiseach and I hope he will have the opportunity to continue doing that.”
