‘Making the Recovery Local – ‘Let's get Mullingar Working

Westmeath Business Recovery Forum to focus on balanced regional development

Deputy Willie Penrose is encouraging Westmeath businesses to attend a forum in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Thursday April 10.

‘Making the Recovery Local – Let’s get Mullingar Working’ will be hosted by Senator Lorraine Higgins, Labour’s European election candidate.

Senator Higgins said: “It is now clear that a recovery is under way in the Irish economy. The Live Register figures released this week show a reduction of some 7,000 since February 2014 and the economy is set to grow by 2% this year.

“The next step is to ensure the recovery is sustainable and is seen to benefit all of our towns. We do not want to see another Dublin-led bubble, leading in turn to more years of misery. Recovery must be real and sustained and take deep roots in all local economies.”

“The Live Register figures have fallen for Westmeath by 5.57% from 10,339 to 9,763 from March 2013 to March 2014. This is an indicator that the recovery is spreading regionally but the challenge now is to ensure it is sustainable.

“In this time of fragile growth, we need to look at the supports we are providing for these businesses and how we are fighting for ongoing investment in infrastructure in the regions.”

Senator Higgins will address the meeting and the forum will then adopt an informal ‘world cafe’ style format facilitating discussions among participants.

It is a good opportunity for business people from self employed to larger organisations to share ideas and feedback on what changes they would like to see at national and European level to facilitate local economic recovery, Deputy Penrose said.