O’Loan says National Development Plan is not a threat but an opportunity

Ballymena SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan says everyone should welcome the National Development Plan just issued by the Irish government. It proposes to spend 184 billion euros over the next seven years on economic infrastructure (roads, public transport, water and sewage etc), social inclusion (children, disabilities etc), social infrastructure (housing, health etc), human capital (schools, training, universities etc), and enterprise and science.

As part of this expenditure, there will be a major investment in North-South projects. These will be in the fields of transport, energy, communications, science technology and innovation, enterprise and training, trade, tourism, investment promotion, health, education, environment, agriculture, culture and heritage, and social inclusion. These projects will be developed alongside the British government and EU programmes.

Councillor O’Loan said, “The magnitude of this plan is hard to take in. This would be substantial spending if it were spread right across the UK. In Ireland it is totally unprecedented. It is a measure of the transformation of the Irish economy that development on this scale can be paid for.

There will be begrudgers around the North-South elements. The opposite should be the case. Whatever one’s political views, it is a fact that partition has done great economic and social damage. Countering this effect through serious whole-island planning will benefit everyone on the island. It is a culmination of what the SDLP has sought since it published its “North-South makes sense” document three years ago. This is a moment of great opportunity and potential change. I hope that the Assembly will be up and running again straight after the election, and will play its full part in these exciting developments.”