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NOTHING SHOUTS FG & FF NEGLECT OF DROGHEDA MORE THAN A DECADE OF FOOT-DRAGGING ON LMETB HQ -NASH

27 August 2024

Local Labour TD, Ged Nash, has said Fine Gael and Fianna Fail’s policy of ‘official neglect’ of Drogheda can be best encapsulated in the town’s 11 year wait for the new LMETB Headquarters due to be based at St. Oliver’s Community College.

Deputy Nash said;“Eleven years ago, the then Education Minister, Labour’s Ruairi Quinn accepted my case that the HQ building for the newly amalgamated Louth & Meath Education & Training Board should be located at St. Oliver’s in Drogheda.

“This was a major vote of confidence in our town and was the first time in decades that Drogheda secured anything of note from central government when it came to a decision on investment between our small city, Dundalk and Navan.

“It must be a record that 11 years on from a government decision., that decision has not been fully implemented. The foot-dragging and buck-passing at government-level is endless. Nowhere is Fianna Fail and Fine Gael’s neglect of Drogheda more evident than in the saga of the ETB HQ.

Deputy Nash added that “Not a block has been laid. Fianna Fail has had the education ministry since 2020, and Fine Gael had the job from 2016 to 2020. This project is in my view being deliberately delayed and Minister Norma Foley must take responsibility.

“The most recent reply I have received from the FF Minister in late July says the project is still at ‘Stage 2b’ of the architectural process. It has been stuck there for an eternity with endless paperwork being shifted between the Department and the LMETB.

“The delays are simply shocking and FG and FF must be held to account for this endless saga in the impending General Election.”

ENDS