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Ms Comyn brought Minister O’Brien on a tour of Narrow West Street
Ms. Comyn’s election campaign launched in Scholar’s Hotel on Tuesday night
Reporter:
Jason Newman
22 Sept 2024 1:00 PM
Fianna Fáil candidate for Louth Alison Comyn says she has secured a commitment of support from Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien for a ‘City Manager’ for Drogheda.
Commenting at the launch of Ms. Comyn’s election campaign in Scholar’s Hotel on Tuesday night, Minister O’Brien said that it was "High time that Drogheda had a dedicated representative who would fight for the town at a national level”.
“Having knocked on the doors with Alison and walked the streets with her, it was clear to see both the very real potential in the town and the need for a strong voice to speak up for it,” said Minister O’Brien.
“I have given Alison my support for her call for a Deputy Chief Executive or City Manager, with Special Responsibility for Drogheda. I think this is a proposal which is worth pursuing and I look forward to engaging with her further on this.”
Ms Comyn brought Minister O’Brien on a tour of Narrow West Street and showed him the challenges businesses and the local community face with vacancy and serious dereliction.
“The Minister agreed there is a very real need for urgent action, either through legislation and enforcement, tax incentives like the Living City Initiative or a dedicated manager for Ireland’s next city,” she said.
“He has committed to helping me in whatever way he can to secure this position, so we can get down to the real work needed in the area.”
Representatives from many organisations and community groups across South Louth and East Meath attended the campaign launch, where chair of the City Status Group Anna McKenna outlined their plans to the Minister and welcomed his pledge.
“Drogheda City Status Group positively welcomes Minister Darragh O’Brien’s significant announcement of the Government’s intention to appoint a city manager for Drogheda at the launch of Alison Comyn’s Dáil campaign for Fianna Fáil,” she commented.
“He told us that the new city manager and team will be based in Drogheda; the Minister also indicated that the Government is considering city status for Drogheda.”
She called it "a further step on the road to full city status’’.
"This also answers the question of the role of the impressive new civic offices on Fair Street as future city offices,” she added.
Dom Gradwell of the Derelict Drogheda Action Group says they were surprised in a positive way by Minister O'Brien's comments at the campaign launch and give the development a guarded welcome.
“Having a 'city manager' based in our city (and we note that the word 'city' was used and not 'town') is one of the key elements that needs to be addressed in order to revitalise Drogheda, and has been one of the key campaign issues of the Drogheda Vacancy and Dereliction Task Force. A city manager based in the city is just one part of addressing the issues of dereliction and vacancy that we see as a direct result of the policies of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael,” he commented.
“Minister O'Brien's comments are as welcome as they are overdue, however the caveat always remains that everyone is on an election footing and we would like to see tangible progress on the issues prior to the country going to the polls”.
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