With members of the Assembly settling back in after their summer break, the issue of regeneration of the West of the Province was brought very much to the fore by SDLP member Tommy Gallagher.
On Monday of this week, Mr Gallagher brought a Motion to the Assembly calling for a Task Force to be set up to try and bridge the divide between west and east.
Presenting the Motion, Mr Gallagher said: "With the assembly now working and some of the Ministers in the Executive coming from western constituencies it is time now to make a new start and address the disadvantage in the west.
"There are some absolute priorities that need attention," he said, "including roads, decentralisation of civil service jobs, inward investment, and health.
"These issues are all critically important for people living right across Fermanagh and the west. My aim now is to have a task force that will make a difference, that will bring forward recommendations that will be acted upon".
"In the lifetime of this Assembly", he went on, " I would like the Executive to decentralise up to 2,000 Government jobs to the west. This is achievable and will help to address the historic imbalance that has existed with regard to public sector jobs in the North.
Our whole island is suffering from extreme regional imbalance. North and South, we need to stop the over-development and congestion in the east and spread the benefits of development to the west.
"That has been the aim of development policy for years, but it has never got beyond the level of an aspiration."
DIRE ROAD NETWORK
Highlighting one area in particular which needs urgent attention, Mr Gallagher explained the dire road network serving the West: "There are no railways serving the west because they were all closed down forty years ago.
"There is no gas supply – business and manufacturing have to rely entirely on electricity, access to broadband is limited and the telecommunications network is second rate.
"Forty years ago the motorway which was supposed to replace the railways stopped at Dungannon even though there was a promise given that it would be extended to Enniskillen - it has never been extended," he explained.
"That failure to put in place an important road link started a trend that still exists today. As a result of lack of investment in new roads Enniskillen has now chronic and very serious traffic congestion.
"Plans for bypasses have been with the Roads authorities for at least 20 years and there is still no sign of work starting.
The recently completed Omagh bypass was fought for over a period of over 30 years.
This failure of government to provide funding for roads is an going source of frustration and annoyance throughout Fermanagh and Tyrone.
"It must not be forgotten that the public transport services is poor and most people don't have a choice and must rely on their cars to get about."
ACTION
Mr Gallagher said the time was now right for the Assembly to take action: "I am calling on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment to set up a Task Force which can scope and scale the real challenge of western development.
"But it must be a task force with a difference – one whose recommendations will be acted on, one whose recommendations will be grounded in reality. It is time for a task force that will go into the detail of the measures required to level the playing field.
We now have concrete proposals from the government in Dublin for infra-structural investment, and the time has come to flesh out real plans for the west."
Mr Gallagher's proposal came in for some opposition from the DUP's Maurice Morrow, who proposed an amendment against setting up a Task Force, instead calling for Ministers to directly address the problem.
"This amendment was supported by Ulster Unionist members, and passed by one vote.
A move which Mr Gallagher said was 'disappointing'.
