Omagh is one of the largest towns in Northern Ireland, and is the fourth largest settlement in the western half of Ireland. It is also one of (if not the) fastest growing towns in the E.U.
So why is it one of the most underdeveloped part of the island?
The roads have been left to rot for pretty much the last twenty, while the M1 came down as far as Dungannon, and inexpicably stopped.
Omagh would be a perfect hub for a rail network in the North, with services to at least the county towns.
The hospital is being stripped from the area, even though it's geographical location is more practical than in Fermanagh.
Three of the best grammar schools in the country are situated in the town, and no doubt, if they combined their efforts more, would probably produce some of the best exam results in Britain.
If any young people harbour big ambitions, they are nearly always forced to leave the town in order to fulfil them.
The house prices are skyrocketing at an intimidating rate, much faster than even London.
Many Nationalists would point to the inaction of successive Unionists MPs for this trend, but electing a Sinn Fein MP hasn't exactly helped either - they will not even represent us in Parliament.
After Cairan Deeny had such a massive victory in the Assembly elections, he has not even had a chance to raise the issue in the house, and the next elections are just a year away.
Is it not about time West Tyrone had a representative that will actually be able to represent? Put the green/orange politics to bed, it has grown VERY old.
Monday, January 23, 2006
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2 comments:
While my learned collegue points out that Strabane and Enniskillen are in a similar situation to Omagh, I would argue that Strabane is a town surbordinate to Omagh, being the third town of the county, and Enniskillen has had a shopping centre for some time now, and thus has been, until recently, drawing a lot of potential custom and economic activity away from the town.
Also, on a more symbolic note, both those towns are signposted from the Republic of Ireland. Obviously their proximity to the border has a lot to do with that, but a town like Omagh should be signposted from places like Cavan and Monaghan (Cavan is signposted from the outskirts of Dublin).
I have always attempted to arrange my arguements in a logical and articulate manner. Failure to live to such high standards when presenting an arguement makes one appear as a passionate lunatic, who would take the advice of some 'higher being' to take a whole nation to war...
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