Sligo wasted no time in responding to the planned decentralisation programme by offering a site close to the town centre where a Government building could be located.
Both the corporation and council got behind the efforts, which councillors are suggesting could bring up to 500 jobs to the town, with a potential £10 million economic spin-off.
At a meeting of the corporation, the county manager recommended it made lands at Cleveragh House available, as any decision on decentralisation would depend on factors such as the level of services and the availability of a site. Sligo already has a section of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, handling pensions, and it is hoped this will also be in the town's favour.
The issue was discussed by both local authorities and the proposal unanimously backed. The only minor reservation was expressed by Mr Declan Bree of Labour, who said some residents were suspicious this was only a ploy to get councillors to agree to sell off the land at Cleveragh Estate.
Mr Bree backed the proposal because no other site was available, but with the clause that if a Department did not use the land, it would be designated for sport and recreation, and this was agreed. The town's development plan will have to be amended to allow for the rezoning. County manger Mr Hubert Kearns said there would be a three-month consultation process.
Sligo feels it has a particularly strong case for a Government office given that there has been no major jobs announcement for the town for some time, while there have been two for Letterkenny over the past year.
Meanwhile, Connacht/Ulster MEP Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon has called for an independent body to decide which towns should get Government offices so as to avoid "political expediency".
The decentralisation programme was "long overdue" and she believed the Civil Service Commission was the ideal body to make these decisions because they were not appointed politically and should have a degree of independence. "They would be a body that possibly could look at the different regions and make a decision," she said.