Council told of Drogheda's 'chicken and egg' conundrum

Louth County Council have been told it faces a "chicken and egg" situation with Drogheda's main street. 

Fine Gael councillor Anne Marie Ford told the March meeting of Louth County Council that the town's main street needs to be addressed to encourage more tourism into Drogheda. 

She said although the Council has offered "really good financial resources" for local festivals, more emphasis should be put on the town's heritage. 

"Sometimes it can be a chicken and an egg situation in terms of tourism in Drogheda.

While there has been a lot of really good financial resources put into local festivals, they’re one off things and we really need to look at the heritage to have that constant stream of tourism coming in during the summer months," she said. 

Cllr Ford said the aesthetic of the town's epicentre needs to be looked at. 

"I know in some historic towns there can be particular planning in terms of what’s acceptable in terms of signage and shopfronts. 

It’s something that needs to be explored, in terms of improving the Main Street of Drogheda and encouraging tourism into the town.

We were speaking of the cruise ships, nobody is going to want to come off a cruise ship if there’s nothing to offer in the town," she said. 

The Fine Gael councillor also said there is a "dereliction situation" in the town centre and said a lot of businesses have gone out of the town. 

A spokesperson for Louth County Council said there is an "awful lot of history in Drogheda that can be built on". 

"There's a number of projects on stream. One of them is Boyne Valley Drive and Boyne Valley as a destination. 

There’s also the whole signage from the train station to the bus station and that’s going to planning shortly," she said. 

The spokesperson also encouraged shop owners to avail of the Shopfront Grant Scheme.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.