By Declan Tierney
The town of Tuam is dying on its feet . . . this was the claim made by a local town councillor and prominent businessman as he vowed to try and bring in a new industry.
And Cllr Paul O’Grady, auctioneer and former President of the Vintners Federation, believes that the key to a renaissance could be an IDA advance factory on a 30 acre field on the outskirts of the town which is already in their ownership.
He said that things were so bad in Tuam that even the number of priests in the town was decreasing as one of the three was being relocated to Castlebar.
“The town is dying,” Cllr O’Grady declared. “If you drive through the centre of Tuam you will find that half of the shops are closed and there are more to follow”.
He acknowledge the presence of major employers like Valeo and Transitions Optical which he said provided vital employment for Tuam – but there was need for another major industry, he said.
He referred to the fact that the IDA had a 30 acre site on the outskirts of the town which had not been developed. “Let them build an advance factory and we will get the industry to occupy it,” he promised.
Cllr O’Grady said that, in the past, the town had rallied to secure employment and would do so again if the infrastructure was provided to allow this to happen.
“People who pass through this town think half of the businesses are closed”, he said and then referred to a number of pubs that had shut down as well as a number of smaller retail outlets which have ceased trading.
He added: “One of the big problems with Tuam is that it does not have any of the major retail players. There is no Dunnes Stores or no Tesco. There should be room for everyone in a town the size of this.
“We are suffering because of it. A number of pubs in this town have closed down and come the end of the summer, more of them will close their doors because it is not viable for them to remain open”.
Cllr O’Grady then promised that he was going to take the matter to Jobs Minister Richard Bruton and would pester him until he approved the construction of an advance factory for Tuam.
He was supported by Cllr Mary Loftus who said that the streets of Tuam were vacant at the weekends and the town had been suffering badly for the past five years.
She then took a swipe at Tuam Chamber of Commerce who she accused of coming up with “ridiculous suggestions” in the past that had not benefited the town.
