THERE is a strong possibility that Co Mayo members of the National Federation of Group Water Schemes will field one, if not two, candidates in the General Election because of continuing dissatisfaction with the Government's package for such schemes.
The decision will be taken by the Mayo Federation of Group Water Schemes at a meeting in Castlebar tomorrow night. When it met last week on the issue, about 450 delegates voted overwhelmingly to put up candidates in Mayo on the basis that Government concessions had not met their basic demands.
Mayo has the single largest number of water schemes in the country. A total of 14,248 households receive water from either private or local authority group schemes. The topography of the local landscape is such that costs are considerably in excess of the subvention proposed by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin.
The chairman of the Mayo federation, Dr Jerry Cowley, who is also treasurer of the national federation, said yesterday that he did not wish to pre-empt the Mayo stance, but pointed out that in any context the county was a special case.
"Our members are dealing with some of the most troublesome water schemes in the country. They are very concerned about devolution of powers to run schemes to local authorities have a complete suspicion of local authorities."
The previous decision to put up candidates, however, was taken in advance of concessions by Mr Howlin, and Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats clarifying their position. In the light of this, the national federation decided not to put up candidates.
Should water scheme candidates stand in Mayo, it could cause havoc for Fine Gael as six outgoing TDs, including three FG Dail deputies, will be contesting five seats following a constituency revision. The situation was compounded yesterday as a large alliance of community groups called Mayo 2000 threatened to put up a candidate.
The group is demanding a change in government jobs policy in the west of Ireland, tax designation of Knock Airport, expansion of Mayo RTC, implementation of the Western Development Action Plan and retention of the region's Objective 1 status in terms of EU supports.
