Call for Donegal County Council to take action on Ballyshannon industrial estate

Donegal County Council has been urged to invest further in a south Donegal industrial estate to help prepare the area for the impact of Brexit.

The Portnason industrial estate in Ballyshannon was once owned by the IDA before it was bought by Donegal County Council a decade ago.

Ballyshannon councillor Barry O’Neil says the facility has seen an uptake in tenants and that it must be helped to develop before Brexit.

He said the council has given vital assistance and it must be given further help.

Cllr O'Neill told the April meeting of the Donegal Municipal District that the IDA had washed its hands of the state in favour of gateways towns like Letterkenny.

But further investment could see Ballyshannon become a town that benefits from Brexit, he said.

He said job losses from local local firms in the last ten years amounted to more than 120, but green shoots are growing with the creation of about 80 jobs by small local businesses, he said.

“Ballyshannon has suffered as a border town and it has the challenges of Brexit,” he said.

“But it is a town that is coming back and Donegal County Council can be one of the drivers of that by promoting Portnason and giving it a facelift,” he said.

He called for a focus group meeting off stakeholders to come up with a plan for the estate.