New economic forum will not be 'talking shop", pledges Boylan

The meeting set up for next Monday to look at ways of reviving Meath"s economic fortunes should not become a 'talking shop' but should be used as a means of giving people back their pride in gainful employment, its intended chairperson, former Meath GAA football manager, Sean Boylan, said this week. Mr Boylan said he had agreed to take on the role because he thought that it was 'desperately important' to get wise heads together to explore the effects of the worldwide economic crisis on the county and to 'look at every possible means' of bringing in jobs. 'I think we"re at a bit of a crossroads in our development', he said, He agreed to take on the job as chairperson, at least for the first meeting of the forum, at the invitation of independent councillor Brian Fitzgerald who raised the issue earlier this month, because he thought 'we should be doing something about the crisis that is facing us'. The meeting will take place in the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan, at 7pm. 'I just feel that every attempt should be made to bring in industry to Meath, whether light or heavy. There is a perception out there that people from outside seem to be able to stop us from making progress economically,' Mr Boylan said. There were outstanding examples of the county"s progress being stymied for one reason or another. 'I remember that we were to have a big development at Pace and that came to a halt because someone thought it was too near the railway line. And five years ago, there was a prospect of getting an industry in here which would have provided 200 jobs in the construction phase and 300-400 jobs when it got into production. Again, that fell by the wayside,' he added. There was a worrying prospect that Meath would become 'just a dormitory county' and as 'a stopping off point for everyone else'. The county just could not survive that way, he said. Mr Boylan made it clear that the meeting should not be a forum for attacking the Government or Meath County Council. 'That is not the way I see things going,' he said. 'It is desperately important that we get our heads together to see practical ways where we can loosen up bureaucratic structures so that we can get industry in here, and to see how we can produce jobs within the county itself. Maybe it has taken the worldwide economic crisis to prompt us into action.' The former All-Ireland-winning Meath GAA manager said it was very important to give people back their sense of pride in worthwhile employment. Cllr Fitzgerald said yesterday (Tuesday) that his call for next Monday"s meeting had met with 'a huge response', He said: 'I was amazed by the number of people who say they want to get involved. I"m anxious that we don"t turn it into an opportunity for griping or knocking. We can"t afford to look back at what should have been done. Goodness knows, the county council have been banging the economic drum about economic development for some years now. What we need are practical ideas and a means of implementing policies which will give us some hope for the future. I"m looking forward to hearing what people can contribute to this debate, which is so important to our county"s future.' Meanwhile, Minister for Transport and local TD Noel Dempsey sharply criticised those who were involved in wrongdoing in Anglo Irish Bank. He accused them of 'economic treason'. The minister said that he and his Cabinet colleagues wanted to see the people responsible 'pay a price'. He said he had heard a huge amount of nonsense about why people were not in jail. 'You have to collect the evidence, it has to be investigated thoroughly and I and my colleagues want to see the people responsible (pay) for that,' said Mr Dempsey.