SENATOR Niall Blaney hosted his well publicised public meeting in the Silver Tassie Hotel on Monday night where he vowed, that if elected to the European Parliament, he would “lift Donegal and the other border counties out from being a forgotten backwater”.
Thanking the public and party supporters for turning out in such numbers he said Donegal has a lot of “catching up” and called for an end to “so-called celebrity representation”.
In his address he maintained Donegal has had no representation in Europe for a decade.
“We’re on the very edge of Europe and the EU has all but forgotten us. In those ten years, this north-western county has barely rated a mention on the floor of the Parliament or in any of the important committees.
“That is an indictment of the MEPs we sent there since 2014,” he said.
Senator Blaney highlighted the discrepancies in disposable income between Donegal and other parts of the country putting Donegal “well down the EU league table”.
He promised to do all in his power, if elected, to make this region a truly Objective One Area.
“Our invisible MEPs have done us no favours when it comes to representing our farming community” adding that he was the only one of the 28 candidates with hands-on farming experience.
On the issue of poor infrastructure he pointed out that of the 234 designated regions in the EU, Midlands-North West ranks at 218th for infrastructure.
“That’s close to the bottom on the Index alongside some of the poorest regions such as Romania and Bulgaria,” he said.
He spoke of the vital cog that is Northern Ireland being part of the Single Market in the all Ireland economy and vowed to represent them.
On the issue of migration he told the gathering he welcomes the contribution migrants who come to Ireland legally make across industry, the hospitality sector and health.
However, he called for more rigorous checks on migrants.
“That said, our current influx of migrants has changed many of our towns and villages, and it’s not all good or indeed welcome.”
Concluding he added “I believe I’m the candidate who can deliver for my county and the place I’m very proud to call home.”
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