The decision by the Coalition Government to travel to Ballaghadereen in Co. Roscommon today for a special Cabinet meeting smacks of political window-dressing. The occasion is designed to mark the first meeting in the new millennium of the elected representatives of the Border, Midland and West region and to display Government commitment to the process of devolution. A similar exercise will take place next week when Ministers go to Cork to attend a meeting of members of the Eastern and Southern region.
Such interest by the Government in the regions can only be welcomed as an encouragement to local enterprise and development. But the events themselves and the nature of the consultations make it perfectly clear that the formal decision-making process will continue to reside in Dublin. Regional assemblies will only be allowed to administer and to monitor elements of the Government's National Development Plan. It is one of the weaknesses of the regionalisation process and it leaves the Government open to the charge that the experiment has been designed to maximise EU funding, rather than to transfer power to the regions.
The underdeveloped nature of regional authorities - and the lack of suitable accommodation for them - is painfully obvious. When elected representatives of the Border, Midland and West region gather today to consult with Ministers and to exchange ideas they will do so in the refectory of a local boarding school. But in spite of such humble beginnings, the opportunity to contribute to new and innovative ways of doing things at local level must be seized. The Coalition Government has committed itself to the concept of regionalisation and to redressing the economic imbalance that favours the South and East. In spite of that, the undertaking was muted in the seven-year national plan, 2000-2006, which envisages massive infrastructural development taking place in the Dublin region to address existing inadequacies. And the balance of planned investment not just between, but within regions, leaves much to be desired.
For example, the Government intends to spend only £8 million, over seven years, on upgrading regional airports in the BMW region, while a total of £156 million will be spent on culture, recreation and sports in the same area. Tourism is identified as an important growth area for the BMW region and it will receive £59 million. But the S&E region will get £75 million, although it is already well-placed to benefit from further tourist growth. The same pattern holds true in terms of road and rail investment.
State agencies and Government Departments are at present drawing up regional and sub-regional operational programmes under the national plan, but they are unlikely to be published until next month. Their absence has left a void at the centre of today's carefully choreographed events. The lack of firm plans could be a blessing in disguise. Today's dialogue between ministers and regional assembly members could generate an unexpected degree of flexibility in identifying and endorsing new projects and initiatives. Such a development would add immeasurably to the confidence of the new regional bodies and send an important public signal that they are not to be regarded as mere talking-shops.