‘A disaster for Offaly’

“A national scandal”, “a dark day” and “a disaster for Offaly” - that was a flavour of just some of the responses of local councillors to the share of an €18m Just Transition Fund programme earmarked for Offaly.

Feelings of anger, shock and extreme disappointment were expressed at a special meeting of Offaly County Council on Wednesday, which was called following the announcement that just two projects in Offaly would receive a total of €550,000 from an €18m EU Just Transition fund scheme allocation.

It was revealed that ten submissions were made for Just Transition funding in Offaly as part of the Local and Regional Economic Strategies Support Scheme. But only two projects were successful which Cllr Eamon Dooley said was a “national scandal.”

On Friday last, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan announced details of 15 projects in the Midlands that would be sharing in €18 million from the EU fund. An application from Kilcormac Development Association, for funding towards a Kilcormac Renewable Energy Centre of Excellence, was awarded €294,056, while an Offaly County Council application for a Film Offaly project received €252,985.

The ten projects submitted included four from Offaly County Council and six from community stakeholders.

The EU Just Transition Fund is a €169m fund, co-financed by the Government, and which aims to help the Midlands region transition from peat extraction for energy use. Offaly has always been seen as the county most impacted.

Chief Executive of Offaly County Council Anna Marie Delaney said that the council would be appealing its three unsuccessful projects.

Director of Services Andrew Murray said that when they were refused for three out of four projects, they were “very shocked.”

"In terms of the other applications that were made on behalf of other groups in Offaly, there were six or seven, we don't know how many were actually made...We know there were seven expressions of interest and we know there were definitely six of those seven made,” said Mr Murray.

Unsuccessful applications were made for the Dalton Centre in Shannonbridge, the Rhode Services Corridor and Tullamore Enterprise Hub.

Mr Murray added that the appeal process seemed "very limited.”

“The two grounds are that Pobal didn't understand our application or that there was a procedural mistake and our appeal is limited to 500 words so the bar is quite high.”

Cllr Eamon Dooley was visibly upset by the lack of funding allocated to Offaly and said that it was “a national scandal”.

The Fianna Fáil councillor explained: “I viewed and still view the cessation of the peat industry as a once in a generation crisis for communities and workers in Offaly.”

Comparing Ireland’s total allocation under Just Transition to Finland, he remarked that Finland had received €466 million under the EU fund while Ireland had received €169 million.

He criticised the decision not to concentrate the fund on counties like Offaly most affected.

“If Ireland had followed the Finnish model, our EU Just Transition fund would be dispersed by the twelve municipal districts of the four midland counties and Longford and Offaly as the most impacted areas would've received the lion's share of the fund."

Cllr Dooley said that there were no jobs for the decimated peatland towns and villages of Offaly.

He added that Minister Eamon Ryan along with Minister Pippa Hackett had informed the chamber recently that they were well placed as the most impacted county for the cessation of peat production to be rewarded under Just Transition. “I'm not sure what planet these people are living on, but if this is their idea of too much and reward, I'd hate to think what too little and punishment looked like.”

A Fianna Fáil group of councillors has sought a meeting with the Tanáiste to outline its dissatisfaction with the process to date.

Cllr Dooley concluded that he couldn't recall ever being as angry about an issue. “It’s time we and the people we represent were given the full facts of how much has been drawn down, who the recipients are, what has been delivered by grant applicants in return for those funds, how many long term sustainable jobs have been created and most importantly of all, what impact that has had on the workers and communities in Offaly and many of the over 550 workers who were pushed out the gate of Bord na Móna work since 2018.”

Cllr Tony McCormack also felt very strongly about the lack of funding. “For a county that has lost so much and has given so much over the years to be treated like this in an adjudication process is terrible and I lay the blame on this one with the Minister who was in charge of this whole area.”

“We know ourselves hand on heart that the biggest area that was affected was Offaly and the biggest job losses were Offaly and somebody has blood in their hands at this stage because we didn't get our fair share.”

Cllr John Clendennen said that what was described as a 'just transition' had become an “unjust stagnation” for Offaly.

Cllr Clendennen added that it was a “dark day” in many regards for the county. “I think we all need to gather together and try and work in unity now to ensure that whatever we do going forward, we bring funding into the county.”

He said that they need to get accountability from the evaluation committee. “Considering the money that's on the table here, the allocation that we sought and the impact that it could potentially have, I think it's an absolute disgrace that we would only have 500 words of an appeal and to me that stinks of laziness on the part of the evaluation committee.”

Cllr Declan Harvey said that the situation was outrageous. “This is a disaster for Offaly, not just for Tullamore, for the whole county. There’s not a part of this county that will not be affected by these decisions.”

Cllr Sean O’Brien said that this was a “pure disaster” for Offaly and “extremely disappointing”.

The Independent councillor added that Just Transition would be judged on the amount of jobs that are created. “The way I could describe what we're getting at present and been offered so far is really loose change.”

Cllr Frank Moran felt that the way Offaly had been treated was an “absolute disgrace.” He suggested that the council call a meeting with Bord na Móna again to express their “total and utter dissatisfaction and absolute disdain.”

Cllr Neil Feighery added that the 500-word appeal was an insult. “A sixth class kid at school would be able to write 500 words.” The Fine Gael councillor said that a meeting had been sought with Taoiseach Simon Harris and Minister Peter Burke to address the challenges for Offaly.

Cllr Liam Quinn encouraged other councillors to contact their respective political leaders about the lack of Just Transition funding for Offaly. He said that he also wanted to meet with the political leaders about getting the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) guidelines changed.

Cllr Mark Hackett added that the lack of funding received was “very disappointing.”

The Green Party councillor stated: “I know Minister Hackett spoke with Minister Ryan after last week's allocation and to be honest, he was very surprised and shocked by the allocation and that's because it was independent. He was not involved in it."

Cllr John Leahy remarked that there was a “battle” to be had with management to get the appeals in and that he couldn't see Pobal saying that they got it wrong following the appeals process.

Ms Delaney concluded that the council would have to undergo the appeal process. “It's a limited process, but we will be trying to make the very most out of that as we can.”

“Pobal will give appraisal back to our team to say where there might have been deficiencies or where we might be able to improve things on the application.”

Minister Hackett has also formally written to Minister Ryan to ask for a review of the whole process of EU Just Transition funding allocations.