CITY STATUS GROUP MEET THE MINISTER
THE Drogheda City Status Group has welcomed recent developments which add momentum to Drogheda becoming Ireland’s next city.
“Now that the 2016 Census results have been released, everyone can see what we predicted – the continued, rapid growth of the Greater Drogheda area, which makes the move to attaining city status unstoppable,” said Vincent Hoey, Chairman of the Group.
Vincent also commended the outcome of the Constituency Commission
Review which endorses the current Louth-East Meath constituency. “The Commission firmly rejected any other option, such as using the River Boyne as a constituency boundary,” he said, adding “the Review looked at those areas of East Meath which are naturally suburbs of Drogheda and concluded that having regard to the general proximity of those electoral divisions to Drogheda, the Commission decided to recommend no change to the Louth constituency.
‘ This sensible and logical outcome considers the Greater Drogheda area as a single entity – unlike the illogical decision of the Drogheda Boundary Review which suggests the area should be managed by not one, but two Local Authorities, who often have conflicting policies.”
The Drogheda City Status Group state that the release of both the 2016 Census data and the report of the Constituency Commission appear to have helped focus local politicians of all backgrounds on Drogheda’s future potential as Ireland’s next city, which they welcome.
“We have come a long way since the Drogheda City Status Group was established in 2009 and the Drogheda Borough Council adopted a motion “That the members of Drogheda Borough Council from this day forward give their consent and approval to the people of Drogheda referring to Drogheda as the City of Drogheda.” as advocated by our Group.
‘Our new Mayor, Pio Smith hosted a very well attended meeting to advocate the extension of the Living Cities Initiative (LCI) to Drogheda and Deputy Fergus O’Dowd brought Minister John Paul Phelan to Drogheda for a meeting at which the objectives of the City Status Group – including the need for Drogheda to qualify for the LCI - were outlined by a representative of the Group who requested a full meeting with Minister John Paul Phelan to discuss City Status for Drogheda. The City Status Group have also contacted Taoiseach Leo
Varadkar and Minister Eoghan Murphy.
‘At National level, all parties seem to be in agreement that Phil Hogan’s decision to scrap Town Councils was a disaster, so the restoration of Drogheda Borough Council would be a further, necessary step towards attaining city status,” concluded Vincent.