Looking within to get county"s economy moving again

Councillor Brian Fitzgerald"s recent 'call to arms" to get the county up and running again is worth putting into action immediately. With unemployment figures for Meath rising rapidly and the number of people signing on the live register doubling in the past year - up from 3,848 in January 2008 to 8,219 last month - there has never been a more urgent time to support local businesses in a drive to create employment. Cllr Fitzgerald rightly pointed out that with the county in a serious crisis, it was now time for people 'to stop moaning, to sit up and mobilise'. Last week, he called on heads of enterprise in the county, along with the county council, to meet for a 'brainstorming session" to help kick-start the county"s economy. This week, the initiative has taken legs and the first meeting of this forum has been fixed for early March in a Navan hotel. Former Meath football manager Sean Boylan has agreed to chair the first meeting. With the backing of at least two Meath Chambers of Commerce, Meath County Council and its various agencies such as the County Enterprise Board, and several local businesspeople, it is crucial that this momentum is maintained and that those with ideas on how to stimulate growth in the local economy are given a platform to put forward their thoughts and entrepreneurial ideas so we can begin to fight our way out of this crisis situation that threatens to rob a generation of the kind of prosperity many Irish people have come to know in recent times. The justifiable anger of the electorate with the Government and bankers who have messed up this country"s economy will have to be put on hold (until election polling day) as Meath residents now begin to sit up and mobilise. The more consumers spend in Meath, the more local business will thrive, thus creating employment for local residents. And the same applies to local government, especially with the local elections looming in the summer. It appears some of the Labour"s election posters are printed in Northern Ireland, as local printers in this county struggle for customers and with many in danger of going out of business. In contrast, almost every cent spent in Meath will be yet another block in rebuilding a robust, economic base within this county. Also to be welcomed is a call from Labour"s local election candidate for Dunshaughlin Michael McLoughlin, who wants an employment task force to be established and a radical overhaul in how employment and enterprise issues are dealt with involving a massive refocusing of public efforts on retraining, job creation and employment schemes for those who cannot find work. He said the economy needs a proper stimulus rather than the deflationary cuts the Government is hooked on. Clearly, he said, the Navan rail line can make a financial return and the National Pension Reserve Fund should be invested in this project as the Department of Finance has said it can make a commercial return. He added there are many other examples of projects like this which can make a return, employ people and get the local economy moving again. The stark news this week from Goodbody Stockbrokers forecasting that the Irish economy will shrink by six per cent this year is another reason for a 'call to arms" in tackling local unemployment. The report also predicts that the economy will shrink by a further 2.5 per cent in 2010. With this in mind, we must also welcome the series of measures Meath County Council"s have been putting in place to facilitate development and innovation. This includes, amongst a wide range of positive initiatives, a programme of meeting local business leaders and the establishment of a high-level 'think tank" to help stimulate business ideas. Meath County Manager Tom Dowling summed the situation up well when he said that, if we all play our part and combine our efforts in a co-ordinated and planned way, we can help to bring some confidence back into the local economy 'and that, in turn, will stimulate the beginnings of an economic recovery'. Stimulating the beginnings of that economic recovery must start by supporting local shopping outlets. We must avoid at all cost a fear of consuming, a fear that threatens to kill the geese from laying the golden egg of employment. But local businesses must meet consumers half-way. No more rip-off prices in restaurants, pubs, local stores or filling stations. If the customer is less than king and not always right, then he or she will shop elsewhere for better service and value for money.