28 May 1997
We have reached our goal - McGuinness
By Tom Gillespie
The controversial and highly successful Mayo RTC Action Group has been wound down following a Government £1.2 million Budget commitment for the development of the Castlebar campus.
The cash, in addition to the £600,000 already given in this year's budget, will allow for the completion of the refurbishment programme of the section of St. Mary's Hospital leased to the Department of Education and will see the student figures at the college rise to over 1,000.
The breakthrough came following the announcement by Tourism and Trade Minister Enda Kenny that he had received the commitment in writing from Finance Minister, Ruairi Quinn, that the money would be made available next year, as promised.
Minister Kenny said the announcement was the fulfilment of a promise made in the Programme for Government to deliver on the RTC.
Minister Kenny said: "I want to see the RTC develop to its potential as a training and educational centre for students which will equip them for life. I want it to be their passport to a job".
In the 1994 by-election Castlebar businessman Paddy McGuinness stood as the RTC candidate and polled a staggering 6,500 votes.
Mr. McGuinness said yesterday they had received a letter from Minister Kenny which indicated that the Government have included £1.2m for the completion of phase I of the Castlebar campus in its estimates for October of this year.
At a special meeting of the Action Group it was decided that they had now achieved their goal and that the completion of phase 1 would facilitate the accommodation of up to 1,000 students, which was their aim from the beginning.
Mr. McGuinness stated: "We have decided to stand down the campaign. That was the commitment we gave and we are honouring that commitment because our demands have been met."
The development of Phase two was for another day. That was for the college to grow and it would demand the commitments of future Dail Deputies from Mayo.
"It will depend on the success of the college itself", he said.
Mr. McGuinness continued: "We committed ourselves on Monday night to remaining in being more or less as a monitoring body to see that promises that have been made will be honoured.
"But we are satisfied that at 1,000 students the campus can generate its own initiative to go on to take its place among all the other third level institutions within the country and to be a leader amongst them." He said Fainna Fail had broken their three year vow of silence on the college and had committed themselves to making the campus into an independent, autonomous RTC.
"If that happened it will be even better", he stated.
He said this was never a campaign about getting Paddy McGuinness into the Dail. "It was never about that. It was always about getting an RTC for Mayo."
Mr. McGuinness added: "Now that we have achieved that we are honouring our commitment of not proceeding down the political road."
The campaign, he said, proved the importance of people power.
"It is important to give credit where credit is due. The importance of having a senior Cabinet Minister within the Constituency has to be recognised. Regardless of our strength and the strength of our campaign, at the end of the day, it had to be delivered at the Cabinet table and Enda Kenny has done that."
