Offaly councillor receives confirmation from Bord na Móna on sale of lands

Cllr Mark Hackett, along with Minister Pippa Hackett, sat down with members of Bord na Móna senior management team recently and they confirmed that they would not be selling land.

Following the meeting, Cllr Hackett said: “I asked a simple, clear question of Tom Donnellan and I got a very definite response, “Bord na Móna is not selling land.”

“This is of utmost importance for the people of Offaly: A number of my council colleagues bring this up at council meetings, month after month. The council is the hub for democracy at the local level, we can’t have the wheels grinding to a halt based on conjecture.”

“I don’t want to believe the rumours are politically motivated so instead I believe they arise because BNM do recapitalise, and seek investment. For example, they could seek investors in the capacity of a wind farm to generate energy over a set timeframe. I was assured that this does not involve a sale or transfer of land.”

Cllr Hackett added: “BNM also confirmed that they do have plans to sell some buildings but will prioritise those purchasers with potential to create jobs in the sustainability sector. I can appreciate this as empty buildings deteriorate rapidly and are a wasted resource. I would rather see job creating enterprises than to see buildings left idle.”

“On a separate but related note, now is the time for individuals and businesses to be innovating as there is additional funding available for our region, through the EU Just Transition Fund, for a short period of time. Non-tourism businesses can look at a fund, administered by Pobal and currently open for applications; details on the Pobal website. Tourism businesses can avail of the Fáilte Ireland EU Just Transition Fund under a number of streams, again, take a look at the Fáilte Ireland website.”