Art O Suilleabhain, a former Mayo schoolteacher, isn't expecting any miracles. However, when the State's new regional and local representatives settle down to business after the elections, he hopes some of them might have time to cast an eye over one particular document.
The 93-page report, which he wrote most of himself, was published in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo several weeks ago. Produced for a local enterprise company and supported by a local branch of a major bank, it is a fascinating introduction to, and indicator of the potential of, this island's very own lake district.
The district concerned is no Cumbria, but it does have its own distinctive beauty - its own Windermere and Ullswater - and its literary links, notably with George Moore. The relatively unspoilt rural area extends across some 850 sq km, almost half of which is covered by water.
Stretching from Lough Corrib in the south to Carra in the north, and from west of Lough Mask to Shrule in the east, it sounds like the sort of place anybody would want to live in. Yet the region has experienced a steady population decline since the 1960s, largely due to changing fortunes in agriculture and traditional industries.
Even in the 10 years between 1988 and 1996, it had lost 2.58 per cent or just over 1,000 people. More worrying is the drop in primary school enrolment, falling by a "staggering" 21 per cent over six years between 1992 and 1998. If current trends continue, and workers constantly migrate to urban development centres such as Galway and Castlebar, the social and economic fabric of the towns, villages and communities of the lake district region will be further damaged, the author says - echoing the message conveyed late last year in Quo Vadimus, the Tuam archdiocese report compiled under the direction of Father Micheal Mac Greil SJ, of Maynooth College's sociology department.
The report represents an effort to fight back - to encourage migration to an area where crime rates are low, educational facilities are good, and there is a quality of life. It identifies the challenges by identifying weaknesses, such as over-reliance on agriculture; a brain drain of some 85 per cent of school-leavers and college graduates; a lack of industrial investment and absence of advance factory space, except in Gaeltacht areas; a proliferation of summer homes which has forced up land prices; and a lack of continued real investment in the area's lakes.
"It was that volume of water, largely unappreciated, that really struck me when I was working on this," Mr O Suilleabhain says. "We tend to take it for granted, and yet we are still able to drink it. It has to be acknowledged that anglers have been the unofficial custodians in terms of protecting that environment over the years."
To address the 21 per cent unemployment rate in the region, the report outlines strategies for revitalisation. The mission statement aims to work through the Lake District Enterprise Centre, based in Ballinrobe, and to foster a culture of enterprise which will generate and sustain existing business and encourage entrepreneurs to locate in the area.
It lays emphasis on the development of a high quality tourism infrastructure and identifies niches, such as walking, angling and historical tourism. It recommends assisting IDA Ireland and Enter prise Ireland in promoting the area at home and abroad, and becoming actively involved in provision and maintenance of voluntary housing projects.
A long term goal is to convince at least one large "outside" industry to locate in the area, with an attendant spin-off for the economy as a whole. At the same time, it also recommends providing small amounts of seed capital in the form of loans to or equity participation in approved existing enterprises or start-up projects.
The report highlights many positive developments and achievements, and notes that up to £40 million has been spent over the past five years on structural development.
However, this expenditure has to continue, it says. Changes in agriculture mean that farmers must be encouraged to pursue new initiatives, such as organic food production.