GROWING the district’s economy must be at the heart of Newry, Mourne and Down Council’s agenda, according to a senior politician.
Downpatrick area councillor Dermot Curran, who is preparing to contest his 11th local council election, said the local authority has a crucial role to play in the months ahead, in particular when the new members have been returned after May 2 and the organisation sets out its priorities for the next four years.
Cllr Curran, the current president of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association which is the umbrella body for the Province’s 11 councils, said his key focus moving forward will be on job creation and helping deliver economic regeneration.
He is keen for Newry, Mourne and Down Council to forge closer links with a number of statutory bodies including Invest NI, Tourism NI and for the local authority to establish stronger links with the Northern Ireland Office in Brussels.
“It is also essential that the council works on building key relationships with the business community, from small independent traders upwards to see what assistance they can be provided with to ensure they remain at the heart of the district’s economy.”
The local politician said his involvement with the Dermot Curran Young Achiever Awards gave him an insight into the breadth of entrepreneurial talent across the district.
“It is now time to start making things happen across the district, supporting and working alongside the businesses which provide major employment. We cannot and must not not sit back and wait for new economic opportunities to arise. We must be at then forefront of working with others to deliver them,” he said.
“I believe that if we all pull together we can secure new investment and allow the council area, which is the third largest in Northern Ireland, to grow and prosper.”
Cllr Curran said it was important to focus on new job creation in both the public and private sectors, suggesting more time and effort needed to be invested in promoting what the district had to offer to potential investors in particular.
“Investment will not happen out of the blue and we all have a duty to work together to secure it,” he continued. “I believe we need new hotels and there is a need for such a facility in the Downpatrick area. We need to progress this in 2019 and also continue to support the existing hotel accommodation that we have.”
Cllr Curran is also keen to see the proposed commercial development at the site of the former Irish Street police station in Downpatrick and a number of adjacent derelict buildings progressed this year.
“This exciting proposal has the potential to restore Downpatrick’s economic heart, create jobs and, most importantly, provide a boot for existing businesses via increased footfall,” he said.
Cllr Curran warned that while attracting new investment was crucial, cracking Downpatrick’s traffic congestion problem was also essential.
He added: “Gridlock is stifling town centre investment and we need to act quickly. While expensive schemes have been proposed in the past, nothing has happened. We must see progress in 2019 and ensure roads officials deliver.”