The decision of Elanco to close its Sligo plant with the loss of a further 100 jobs was another blow to Sligo which was already the fourth worst county in Ireland for Enterprise Ireland supported jobs.

This was stated by Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she blamed a failed National Spatial Strategy, and failure to deliver the balanced regional development promised by successive governments, for the employment difficulties of Sligo.

“County Sligo has the fourth worst statistic for Enterprise Ireland supported jobs in the entire country and this compares badly  with Co. Louth which has 5,600 supported jobs compared with Sligo’s 1,723.  Co. Louth also had more IDA client visits than Co. Sligo in 2015”, she said.

The infrastructural advantages enjoyed by Co. Louth with its motorway, and two international airports accessible within an hour, would continue to make a nonsense of the Action Plan for jobs launched in Sligo in December last, she said.  “It is little short of sleight of hand to announce a 28,000 jobs target for a region stretching from Sligo to Louth and claim success down the road for jobs delivery which produces little for Sligo”, she suggested.

“Specific actions and commitments are what Sligo needs and, for too long, we have had many government aspirations but continued failure to translate promises into tangible jobs”, Independent MEP concluded.