With no minister all along the western seaboard, this piece with renowned economist Dr John Bradley a few weeks ago is a timely explainer of why there's a need for change and one has to wonder how it will happen with such poor cabinet representation.

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/35408-how-covid-19-crisis-could-transform-mayo-economy

The apathy towards the west was shown in Technicolor with the scandal that was the removal of the Western Arc from the EU's TEN-T Core funding network in 2011.

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/31930-apathy-towards-the-west

Here's more insight on that decision and its consequences by @Flyck66

https://www.mayonews.ie/news/32075-ten-t-how-the-west-was-done

Dr John Bradley covers a lot of ground in flawed approaches to regional development in his comprehensive study of the Mayo economy in 2019.

Executive summary worth a read:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sligochamber.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Economy-of-the-AEC-Mayo-Study-Final_compressed.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi6q_b5gaPqAhUSURUIHfFhBzUQFjAFegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw1UdfT0p-EZy-V3pEIu7hhB

Successive governments have allowed Dublin to grow out of control and left counties like Mayo as a place where too many parents know they will be forced to see their children emigrate.

Nothing we've seen in the PFG or today's cabinet announcement suggests that will change.

In fact it might get much worse. The abandonment of the west has been an issue for centuries. Still we've more of the same.

This is not about politics; it's about fairness.

Hard not to agree with the following graphic doing the rounds.