Martin Kenny TD: Addressing imbalance

Sinn Féin TD for Sligo-Leitrim, Martin Kenny, believes that investment in sustainable enterprise can reverse the trend of rural decline and depopulation in County Leitrim.

What are your most significant priorities as a TD for the Sligo-Leitrim constituency?

The most significant priority for the area is regional development, which includes the development of infrastructure and the support structures to ensure businesses and small enterprises will be developed and retained in the region to provide sustainable, high-paid employment. A large proportion of the young people in Sligo and Leitrim attend third level, however, there are not sufficient jobs for graduates in the area.

Sligo town in particular is hugely underutilised and has the potential to be a major hub for employment and population expansion. Opportunities in developing renewable energy and the spin-offs from that can present such a bright future for the region.

There is a major imbalance in Ireland as so much of our economic development and infrastructure is in and around the capital, where it is becoming unaffordable for people to live.

What is unique about representing County Leitrim?

County Leitrim has the lowest population in the country and has been neglected in many ways as it has poorer land from an agricultural perspective, and little industrial or commercial development. Therefore, I represent one of the places that has been given the least, but also has the most potential.

What are the most pressing challenges currently facing your constituents?

The challenges are similar to those facing most counties, particularly around housing, and access to health and mental health services. Rural decline is also a serious problem, where many of our rural areas continue to have a falling population since the time of the famine.

To what extent has the post-pandemic recovery delivered a socioeconomic dividend for County Leitrim?

The opportunity for some people to work remotely has opened up a level of opportunity. Although access to adequate and reliable broadband services is still an issue in some parts of the county, there are also excellent broadband facilities in the new remote working hubs and in the towns across the county. As we know, good internet connection puts you at the centre of the universe, no matter where you are geographically. The unspoilt beauty of County Leitrim has been discovered by people who holidayed at home during the pandemic, and we are seeing a return of many who had visited the county on an ‘active holiday’ – cycling, camping, and surfing.

How can County Leitrim best showcase its cultural heritage?

Novelist John McGahern is one of the great sons of Leitrim, whose books sold all over the world. We used to have the John McGahern Summer School annually, which has unfortunately fallen away now. I think there is an opportunity there to reinvigorate that. Leitrim also has, of course, the home of 1916 signatory Seán Mac Diarmada in Kiltyclogher. It is a small rural cottage, so typical of where the poor and landless Irish survived for generations.

What is your vision for the future of County Leitrim?

My vision for Leitrim is that we would reverse the rural decline and depopulation through investment in sustainable enterprise. To do so, we will need to grow employment opportunities, along with the development of first-class communications infrastructure, as well as build on the excellent leisure, cultural, and sports facilities throughout the county.