Transcript The BMW Region Border, Midland, West.

The West – Part of a Large
Peripheral Region in Ireland BMW
A peripheral / less developed region in Ireland
Main Counties in West
Galway Mayo Roscommon
Focus on West
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3 counties (13 in BMW).
One quarter of Ireland’s population. (1,132,090 in 2006 census)
48% of the land area of Ireland.
Rural areas with low population densities (25 – 30 per km/squared)
High dependence on primary activities.
Unemployment above the national average.
Underdeveloped transport infrastructure.
Low employment level in services.
Industrial development based on multinational company branch plants,
employing many unskilled workers.
High levels of out migration (although trend reversed between 1996 and 2006).
Not as urbanised as GDA. (Galway is main urban centre).
West has good economic potential, unspoilt environment, little congestion,
beautiful scenery (mountains, coastline).
Labour force = 25% of the national labour force.
Climate
• Cool temperate oceanic climate.
• Usually described as dull, wet and windy.
• High relief creates wetter conditions than GDA, - Relief and
Cyclonic rain.
• Over 250 days of rainfall per annum.
• North Atlantic Drift – Ice free
• South westerly winds – increase temperatures.
• Average temperatures similar to GDA – 5 – 14 degrees
celcius.
• Further inland away from the sea, more frost occurs. (Clones
has twice as much frost (99 days) as Belmullet.)
• Annual rainfall varies from 928mm in Clones to 1,150mm in
Belmullet. (Due to relief and rain shadow effect)
Relief and Drainage
Relief
• Varied relief of mountains, lakes and lowlands.
• Major rivers include the Shannon, Corrib and Moy.
• Many of the rivers are small and flood each year with
flood plains developing.
• Several mountainous areas dominated by metamorphic
rocks which were created during the Caledonian
mountain building period – 400 million years ago.
• Much of the lowlands are unsuitable for agriculture
because they are poorly drained boglands or have thin
soils.
• Coastline is composed of headlands and sheltered bays
due to the erosive power of the Atlantic.
• Clew bay was created due to the rising sea levels
submerging the drumlin landscape.
Soils
• Varied and generally of poor quality compared to GDA.
• Mainly peat and gley soils throughout the region while the
midlands area has more fertile brown earth soils.
• Heavy rainfall – leaching – hardpan – poorly drained – podzols.
• Glacial deposition – Border Region has boulder clay soils and a
drumlin landscape with several large lakes. (eg Lough Erne).
• Connemara – glacial erosion has removed soil cover leaving lakes
and shallow peat behind.
• Many parts of the region have poor agricultural outputs and are
more suited to forestry development.
• Drainage basin of the river Shannon around Clonmacnoise has
fertile alluvial soils but is often flooded.
• Eskers running across the landscape provide well drained areas
(Eiscir Riada)
Primary Activities in the West
• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Fishing and aquaculture
• Mineral Resources
Agriculture
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• The major primary economic activity despite many
physical, social and economic disadvantages:
• Many areas of poor infertile soils eg peat, gleys with
harsh climate eg wind, rain, low temperatures.
• High mountains eg Twelve Pins are over 300m high
and there is often flooding and many lakes.
• Glacial erosion in both uplands and lowlands.
• Small farm sizes ( half the size of the national
average) with low levels of mechanisation and small
local markets.
Agriculture
• Livestock farming is the dominant agricultural activity
with 55% of the farmland used for pasture (grazing of
beef and sheep) and a further 20% of farmland is
considered rough grazing land (mountain slope, badly
drained lowlands).
• Dairy farming is mainly on the larger farms of the better
drained lowland areas eg North-East Mayo.
• Due to the poor soils and wet climate only 1% of the
land is used for crop growing and outputs are low eg
less than 3% of the national barley crop and less than
1% of the national wheat crop.
• Farm incomes are very low and the whole region is
regarded as a Disadvantaged Area and qualifies for the
highest grants/subsidies from the Common Agricultural
Policy (C.A.P.) of the E.U.
Agriculture
• Direct payments from the E.U. make up nearly
70% of farm incomes and in 2006 farmers in this
region received an average of €8,000 from the E.U.
• Only 5% of the farms are considered economically
viable (larger farms, high levels of mechanisation)
and Rural Environmental Protection Schemes
(REPS) also help farmers who ensure pollution free
farms, proper waste disposal etc.
• However, farming activities seem set to decline in
the future. It is becoming a part time occupation. At
present a survey suggests that up to 60% of farmers
in the region have an off-farm job.
• In Donegal, 46% of farmers are over 55 years of
Forestry
• Agricultural production is relatively low in the BMW
and forestry is considered to be a more productive land
use.
• It is now viewed as a viable alternative to agriculture
in many parts of the region.
• Physical factors favour the growth of coniferous trees,
especially the sitka spruce in this region:
– Mild temperatures allow a long growing season each year.
– Well distributed rainfall allows favourable growth.
– Peat land and boulder clay allow the shallow root systems of
the spruce to prosper.
Foresrty
• Tree planting is generally organised by Coillte, a semistate body and helped by:
• Grants from the Irish government
• E.U. grants.
• The areas under forestry now exceed 30,000 hectares.
• The Irish government and E.U. regard forestry as an
alternative to agriculture, especially in areas of marginal
land (profit margins are low), reducing the amount of
farmland.
• Trees are a renewable resource – ie they can be replanted
• Improved infrastructure will encourage further
development (timber processing plant Masonite, near
Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim).
Fishing and aquaculture
• Fish are a renewable, natural resource.
• Fishing has been:
– A source of food
– A means of emploment
– In this region for centuries due to the difficulties for
agriculture (high mountains, poor soil, damp climate etc).
• The region has great natural advantages for fishing:
– Continetal shelf supplies fish food (plankton)
– N.A.D. keeps the coast ice free and helps the development of
favourable water temperatures.
– Sheltered harbours eg Killary Harbour
Fishing Ports - Rosaveal
• Fishing employs aprx. 2,000 people in the west
• The largest port is Rosaveal (Ros a Mhil)
• Large ships with refrigerated sea water tanks
may fish up to 200 miles off the coast.
• Most of these use the ports in Donegal –
Killybegs
• Large vessels have added to the overfishing
problem on the western seaboard severely
depleting stocks like herring and cod
• Clew Bay has a growing aquaculture industry –
focusing on salmon ,sea trout, shellfish
Fishing
• Since the 1960’s there have been great changes in the
fishing industry in this region helped by grants from the
Irish government and aid from the Common Fisheries
Policy of the E.U.
– Fewer but larger boats
– Greater emphasis on fish processing (part of the multiplier effect)
– Over fishing (better equipment and nets) has caused decline in
fish stocks.
– New fishing quotas have reduced the amount of fish caught and
restricted the number of days that fishing is allowed.
• Aquaculture / fish farming is a major growth sector of the
fishing industry.
• The physical advantages include:
– Sheltered bays e.g. Killary Harbour
• Grants from the E.U. have encouraged the growth of
fish farming and the main species include:
– Mussels at Killary Harbour (Inner Galway Bay)
– Oysters at Clew Bay
– Salmon at Killary Harbour; Clew Bay.
• About 2,300 people are now employed in aquaculture in
the region.
• The rivers of the region (Moy, Corrib) and the lakes
(Mask, Conn) are world famous for fishing especially
salmon and trout.
• Thousands of anglers are attracted to the region each
year.
Mineral Resources
• Minerals are a non-renewable resource.
• Mining often brings employment to a region but the major mineral
find in this area is natural gas in the offshore Corrib Field.
• The highly technical development will mean few jobs.
• The development of this gas field should bring great benefits to the
region:
– Gas deposits should last for about 20 years
– Deposits estimated to be worth over 1 billion euro.
• Problems over the siting of the gas terminal and the proposed natural
gas pipelines have delayed development eg Rossport Five.
• The natural gas should benefit the region:
– Supply gas to the major towns of the area eg Castlebar,
Claremorris and Tuam
– The gas may be used to generate electricity in the region.
• New energy supplies are needed to increase economic development in
the region.
Peat
• Located in the deep boglands of the midlands.
• Before Kinsale Natural Gas came on stream in
1979, peat was Ireland’s most important energy
resource.
• The ESB generating capacity for peat was 250
megawatts in three stations.
• Peat is supplied by Bord Na Mona to the peatfired power stations run by the ESB in
Lanesborough and Shannonbridge.
Secondary Economic Activities
• Higher % employed in unskilled occupations in West
than the national average.
• Lower % employed in professional occupations.
• Reliance on few industries such as food processing (dairy
products, bacon) Castlebar, Co. Mayo, timber processing
and textiles (clothing at Galway, woolens at Foxford
(Mayo)).
• The West lacks variety (diversity) in its manufacturing
base.
• The West region is not a favourable location for
manufacturing
• Industries are usually small scale (low productivity (70%
of national average), labour intensive with less than 50
Reasons for Underdevelopment.
• Poor transport infrastructure.
• Small urban population – small labour pool and
market.
• Peripheral location ( > transport costs)
• Lack of power supplies capable of supporting energy
intensive industry.
• Outward migration of young, skilled people and the
peripheral location discourages inward investment.
• The small size of urban areas which means that
infrastructure development is expensive eg
telecommunications and availability of broadband.
Attractions of West for Investment?
• The main centres of industry are Galway, Castlebar, Sligo
Galway is main urban centre with a variety of knowledge
based industry, such as electronics, e.g. Medtronic
(cmedical) and Boston Scientific (medical) Nortel
(Telecommunications).
• This is due to the location of NUI Galway which provides
a skilled graduate labour force, direct transport network to
the east coast by air, rail or road and the presence of
serviced industrial estates for investors.
• Irish government recognises importance of attracting
industry to the West region and therefore offers grant
assistance and tax incentives to new industries.
• E.g. The Gaeltacht region in Co. Galway attracts the
maximum level of grant assistance, averaging up to
€14,000 per job. Udarás na Gaeltachta
Incentives
• Incentives offered by Industrial Development
Authority (IDA) have helped manufacturing
industry including:
– Grants for equipment
– Low corporation taxes
– The building of ready-to-occupy factories –
Advance Factories
• Aid from the E.U. has brought modern, hightechnology industries to Galway.
– European Social Fund (ESF) – education / training
– Structural funds (transport funding)
• Many examples of job losses in the region in
recent years, especially in Mayo and
Roscommon, eg between 2000 and 2004 over
700 jobs were lost in the Ballina area of Mayo.
• Establishment of growth centres at Castlebar,
Ballina and Tuam under the National Spatial
Strategy (NSS) will make the region more
attractive by attracting modern, high-skilled
industries to overcome the loss of jobs to lowcost labour economies. (Eastern Europe, India
etc)
Manufacturing Centres – West in
Pink and Some in Blue
Tertiary Economic Activities
Service Industries
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Communications
Education
Public Services
Tourism
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Communications
• The development of broadband communications is essential if new
modern industry is to be attracted to the region.
• Widely dispersed population and industrial location, commuting
involves longer distances than average.
• Fewer national primary roads in the region and other roads are of
poor quality.
• Public transport is underdeveloped with just 4% of the population
using it to get to work compared to 11% nationally.
• Greater reliance on car ownership.
• Galway and Sligo are the main ports.
• , Knock and Galway have airports.
• Connaught Regional Airport (Knock) is now very successful:
– Nearly 300,000 passengers annually
– Links to Dublin, London, Manchester etc
Education
• 44% of labour force in West has completed 2nd or
3rd level education compared with 54% in GDA.
• Region provides 28% of the national university
students, however only 13% of graduates from the
West region are employed within the region.
• Brain drain due to the lack of suitable job
opportunities for skilled labour, along with the
lower level of economic and social development.
Public Services
• Some public services have moved to the
West as part of the government
decentralisation programme, e.g. the
Department of Envirinment offices in
Ballina, Co. Mayo and the Department of
Education offices in Athlone Co.
Westmeath.
Tourism
• Has not grown as much as that in the GDA
because:
• Dublin Airport is the main entry point into Ireland.
• Transatlantic aircraft are no longer required to
stop in Shannon
• Visitor numbers from the US have declined in
recent years. Compulsory stopover in Shannon has
reduced numbers coming to the West
• Transport and car hire are expensive in Ireland.
Advantages for Tourism.
• Physical attractions
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Rivers for boating and fishing – Shannon
Coastal scenery – Galway Bay
Mountains – Nephin Beg
Forests – Lough Key National Park
• Cultural attractions
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Gaeltacht regions
Ceide Fields (Mayo)
Knock (religious)
Galway city
• Advantages of developing tourism for a region
include:
• Tourism is a labour intensive activity and
employs large numbers of people.
• The multiplier effect – farming, fishing,
construction, shopping, entertainment etc.
• Future success in tourism will depend on:
– Improving more hotels
– Keeping a pollution free environment
– Developing ‘specialist’ attractions eg heritage
tourism, golfing, fishing, sailing, surfing etc.
Galway/Mayo Tourism
• Physical environment is attractive – Maamturk/12Pins
Mountains
• Rugged and dramatic coastline – Sandy beaches of
Achill Island
• Large island-studded lakes – Lough Corrib
• Niche tourism such as angling on the river Moy
• Rich Gaeltacht culture – Connemara
• Past civilisation evidence – Céide Fields, North Mayo
5,000 years old – Dún Aonghusa on Great Aran Island
• Picturesque regions Cong, Co. Mayo – Scene for ‘The
Quiet Man’
• Knock Shrine - Pilgimages
Tourism Problems – The West
• Only 12% of overseas visitors to Ireland come to the west
• Direst access is a problem – Shannon Stopover reduced
numbers from USA greatly
• Seasonal nature of the industry
• Solutions:
• Improved transport access
• Better facilities for tourists - focus on niche tourism eg.
Hillwalking/Angling
• Reduce prices – Need to compete with other cheaper
European destinations
Human Processes in the West
• Within BMW region, parts of the larger urban areas of
Galway, Drogheda and Dundalk show symptoms of
extreme disadvantage in terms of the level of
unemployment and the provision of health and other social
services.
• Remote rural areas such as Connemara and the Donegal
Gaeltacht areas show signs of rural deprivation such as
low educational and skill levels, unprofitable farm
holdings, unemployment and high dependency rates.
• Traditionally these areas have been a region of out
migration, leaving older and younger dependents at home.
• BMW has a lower population density than the GDA.
• Galway is the exception showing an increase in population
– educational and manufacturing centre for the region.
Future Development in the West
• December 2007 – Irish government announced its
regional investment plan 2007 – 2013.
• Investment will come from:
– Irish government (about €2 billion)
– European Union (about €750 million)
• Most of the investment will be for:
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Infrastructure improvements (road, rail, broadband)
Development of education and institutes of technology
Job development
Environment improvements eg water quality.
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Under NSS (National Spatial Strategy):
Galway City is a major Gateway
Ballina, Castlebar and Tuam are Hubs.
The BMW has progressed economically and this
is shown by:
• Loss of Objective 1 status in the EU.
• The growth of Gross Domestic Product.
• EU support funding will drop each year in the
future (2007 - €152,
2013 - €15)