CROMWELL IS BACK IN TOWN!
OLIVER Cromwell caused a right stir in Drogheda last week – centuries after he stormed the place! The infamous army leader made an impassioned plea for the town to become a city before he hopped on a bus and did the same outside Leinster House.
OLIVER Cromwell stepped from the history books back into the present day to demand that Drogheda becomes Ireland’s next city.
The Drogheda City Status Group arranged for an actor dressed as the infamous Englishman to declare the town’s intentions at Laurence’s Gate before heading to the steps of the Dail with a local delegation.
There, they handed in a petition to Leinster House to underpin its demands.
Drogheda City Status group collected over 3,000 names within the past three weeks as it steps up its campaign to make Drogheda and the surrounding area a city. The delivery of the petition follows the formal submission made earlier this month under the National Planning Framework Ireland 2040. That submission details how the 2016 census points to a population of over 83,000 in the Greater Drogheda Area, larger than Waterford City, and the fifth largest in the State.
Drogheda City Status group has been campaigning for over a decade to end what it claims is the “nightmare” dual administration of the town and its rapidly expanding satellite communities.
The report outlines how the former Municipal Borough of Drogheda, together with the adjoining Louth and Meath rural areas, have increased in population by almost 80% between 1996-2016. The population has risen from 46,451 to 83,042 at a time when the average national increase was 31.22%.
The report also outlines how Drogheda city environs fulfils the criteria laid down by the EU Commission and the OECD for city status.