Fears for the future of the Ballinrobe council office were expressed at a meeting of the Claremorris electoral area committee this week, depending on the level of regional road grants which are allocated to the area.
Cllr Damien Ryan, who raised the issue, said in the past a grant of between €300,000 and €500,000 had been allocated to the Ballinrobe area which ensured enough work to sustain the office.
However, with the amalgamation of Ballinrobe and Claremorris electoral areas and the uncertainty about how much will be allocated this year for regional road funding, the Fianna Fáil representative said he has “a fear for the working of the engineering office in Ballinrobe”. He said one of the biggest fears when the Ballinrobe and Claremorris areas were combined last year was that the Ballinrobe office would lose out, and now he is afraid that these fears will be realised. Cllr Ryan told the Mayo Advertiser his biggest concern is that there would be a downgrading of staff in the Ballinrobe office.
He explained that in the past a grant of €500,000 was received for the ongoing works on the R334 Neale crossroads. However he is worried that the council would not be ready to proceed with further works on this road should more money be received for this particular project. He has asked the council that should funding be received that it go towards the R332 Kilmaine to Tuam road, where works started 20 years ago and have yet to be completed. “It is imperative we don’t lose the money from Ballinrobe,” he added.
Senior engineer Patsy Burke told the meeting that the old and new areas would struggle for funding this year.
