Sinn Féin Galway West by-election candidate Mark Lohan has said that communities across Connemara, the islands and throughout Galway are being “slowly hollowed out” by Government neglect.
He has said rising living costs and the failure to invest in the west of Ireland are having a negative impact on coastal and rural communities.
He said the by-election on May 22nd is a “real choice” between continued decline under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael or electing a Sinn Féin TD who “will fight for the future of coastal and rural communities”.
“Across Connemara, the islands and all across Galway, people increasingly feel that their communities are being slowly hollowed out – and that nobody in government is listening,”he said.
“Young people are being forced away because they cannot afford housing. Families are being crushed by the cost of living. Small farmers, fishing communities and rural businesses are under relentless pressure,”he said.
“People are watching services disappear, seeing healthcare become more centralised and feeling that communities along the west coast are constantly treated as an afterthought,”he said.
“And yet government politicians continue to tell people everything is going great,”he said.
“The reality on the ground is very different,”he said.
“In too many parts of Galway West, people feel abandoned.
“They see soaring energy bills, rising fuel costs, lack of affordable housing, poor infrastructure and growing uncertainty about the future of their communities,”he said.
“Communities in Ros a’ Mhíl, Carna, Lettermore, Roundstone, Clifden, Inis Mór and right across Galway deserve representatives who will fight for investment, protect rural services and defend the future of coastal communities,”he said.
“People now have an opportunity to send a message that coastal and rural Galway will not be ignored any longer,”he said.
