'Bizarre and disgraceful': Anger over exclusion of one Kildare region from EU Just Transition Fund

A local councillor expressed his frustration over the announcement that one Municipal District (MD) in County Kildare would be excluded from the EU Just Transition (JT) Fund.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Brian O'Loughlin was visibly annoyed when he heard the answer at the latest Kildare-Newbridge MD meeting, which took place on Wednesday, March 18 last.

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The matter was initially raised at the meeting when he submitted the following question to Kildare County Council (KCC): Can KCC confirm if there is a new JT Funding scheme coming online, and if so, will the Kildare-Newbridge MD will be part of it?"

As explained by Fáilte Ireland, the purpose of the programme, which is co-funded by the Irish government and the European Union (EU), is to assist the territories most affected by the transition to a climate neutral economy.

In the context of Ireland, this focuses on the wider Midlands region, "where there have been direct impacts from the move away from peat production and electricity generation from peat".

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RESPONSE

In response to his query, KCC explained that the EU JT Sustainable Transition through Climate Action for a Resilient Territory  (START) programme was recently announced, and that START "is part of JT Territory funding".

KCC elaborated: "In the case of County Kildare, the JT Territory includes the Clane-Maynooth MD and Athy MDs only.

"Therefore, Kildare-Newbridge is not part of the program."

However, Cllr O'Loughlin was left dissatisfied by this answer.

He told KCC: "I do not understand this answer... who makes the decision about which MD gets funding?"

CONFUSION

Cllr O'Loughlin further said that he was especially confused by the decision, given the history of Bord na Móna's involvement in Kildare, especially in the towns of Newbridge and Rathangan, and the number of bogs present in Kildare.

He added: "Now, this is the second tranche of funding, and there is no funding for this MD? I find that bizarre and disgraceful, and I am not accepting this."

Replying to his comments, a representative for KCC, clarified to Cllr O'Loughlin that the decision regarding which MD gets funding is made by the EU, and not KCC.

"This MD was originally going to be included, but the EU changed it," they added.

Following this, the Mayor of the MD, Fianna Fáil Cllr Noel Heavey, reminded Cllr O'Loughlin that if he wanted to discuss the matter further, he would have to submit a motion on it at the next MD meeting.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Brian O'Loughlin. Photograph credit: kildarecoco.ie

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Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.