Minister Ryan to meet council early in New Year

Thirteen might be the lucky number for Cavan County Council after Minister for the Environment, Transport and Climate Change, Eamon Ryan, agreed to meet elected members early in the New Year.

It follows more than a dozen requests for a sit-down with the Green Party leader in the lifetime of the current council.

The planned visit, set for early January, will take place in the Cavan council chambers, and follows repeated calls for a meeting with the Dublin Bay South deputy over the past 12 months.

Cavan councillors could hardly contain their surprise at their December monthly meeting last Wednesday, December 14, when informed of the proposed arrangement by Cathaoirleach Philip Brady (Fianna Fáil).

The meeting with Minister Ryan was confirmed by acting chief executive to Cavan County Council, Eoin Doyle.

Elected members are expected to have a briefing meeting prior to meeting with Minister Ryan, but it is expected that on the agenda for discussion will be a number of pertinent matters, including funding for roads, the Virginia bypass and local concerns in relation to the building of the North-South Interconnector, as well as the Strategic Rail Review.

It was in the meeting that it was said the council has extended 13 separated invites to meet with Minister Ryan to date.

“He must be setting off Sunday to be down here on time,” guffawed Independent Shane P O'Reilly, who subsequently described news of the visit as “unbelievable”.

The Cathaoirleach noted that Minister Ryan has “promised not to walk out” of the meeting as it's claimed his predecessor Shane Ross did during a contentious meeting held with the council back in 2018.

Speaking after the December meeting, Cllr Brady informed the Celt: “We've been harping on about this for nearly four years now. I think we've wrote manys the letter, 13 someone said, and we've got the odd reply but not always. So I see it as a hugely positive step him coming down to see us. Obviously we've no rail, no airport, so we're a county that depends hugely on our road network, and it's been said before, but there needs to be a case made for that.”

He said there is “a lot to discuss”.

“There are a lot of challenges, but also a lot of opportunities. Along with the problems as people see them, we have a number of large projects in the pipeline, so we want the right message to go out to him in relation to those. The message we need him to take back is we need more funding in the county, some huge projects, and get things moving, not just to have these ideas in the pipeline but actually deliver for the people of Cavan.”

Mr Doyle meanwhile noted that “matched element" in terms of capital investment, while overall welcome, can be an onerous demand where funding for services is already stretched.

“It will become a burden on all local authorities in the years to come. The climate change area, which is his specific area, is a huge transformational programme for projects going forward. So we welcome his view on how that'll be rolled out, what will be the role of local authorities, and how he intends to assist us with funding and expertise to meet those goals.”