THE loss of a senior minister from Cork and the failure to nominate a Cork-based TD as a cabinet attending junior minister has resulted in Cork city and county being politically overlooked and downgraded, according to Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins.
Deputy Collins spoke following the nomination of the Cork-based former Minister for Finance Michael McGrath as Ireland’s next EU Commissioner and the appointments of Mayo TD Dara Calleary as a Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Kildare TD James Lawless as Minister of State at the Department of Transport.
‘This is not personal as regards Dara and James, but given the geographical, political and economic importance of Cork city and county, it makes absolutely no sense to leave us in a position where the strength of our voice at cabinet has been diminished in this way,’ said Deputy Collins.
‘I will certainly continue to do my level best, along with Independent Ireland’s local authority representatives, to ensure that the vast number of issues requiring urgent attention within the city and county do not suffer from this lack of political focus,’ said Deputy Collins.
