Sligo has been stagnant for a number of years, falling behind other towns of its size, Dr Jimmy Devins believes. For this reason he has decided to contest the next election as a Fianna Fail candidate in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.
A GP by profession and a member of Sligo County Council, he is one of three Fianna Fail candidates, alongside John Ellis in Leitrim and his fellow county councillor, Eamon Scanlon, in Ballymote, south Sligo. A Fianna Fail seat has been left vacant with the retirement of Matt Brennan.
Dr Devins, who lives in Sligo town, says he has no doubt the election will be "incredibly difficult because there is a welter of very good candidates". Among them are Independent Marian Harkin, Sean MacManus of Sinn Fein and Declan Bree of Labour, as well as two sitting Fine Gael TDs.
It will be an interesting constituency, with all eyes on Harkin to see if she can translate into a Dail seat her very strong performance in the European election. ail seat.
Dr Devins is married to Judge Mary Devins, who became well known last year when she ordered a psychiatric report on Audrey Flynn, daughter of the former Fianna Fail minister and EU commissioner, Padraig Flynn, accusing her of "breathtaking arrogance" in a case involving driving offences.
Dr Devins says he would put an emphasis on improving infrastructure in the north-west to bring more industry and jobs. ail. "Sligo has been stagnant for a number of years, and when you look around the country there have been very considerable improvements elsewhere. We have made some advances but I don't think we are at the level we should be at for a town of our size," he said. He points to the fact that no large factory has located in Sligo for many years. "The basic infrastructure is not in place that should be there, be it railway, roads or airport," he said, adding that Sligo is reliant on a small number of large factories set up in the 1970s and 1980s, such as Abbotts and Saehan. "You have only to look at Letterkenny or Galway to see that Sligo has not prospered to the same extent," he said.
As chairman of the Institute of Technology in Sligo, he believes the college can play an important part in attracting new companies by forging closer links with industry.
The institute has been transformed over recent years, with about £25 million spent on a new library and administration block, a new engineering block and a business innovation centre.
Dr Devins is now lobbying to secure funding of £1 million from the Department of Sport and Tourism for an all-weather running track. Leisure and sports facilities for the 3,000 students are poor by comparison with other universities, and he is conscious this will be a factor in attracting people to the college.
"If you draw a line from Dublin to Galway, there is no all-weather running track north of that, and it would be an important facility for students and other athletes in the north west," he said.
Dr Devins says Athletics Ireland supports their application, and a delegation from the college will argue that it is the best place for such a track in the north-west.