RTÉ show focuses on
A RECENT episode of RTÉ’s Eco Eye which took an honest look at Sligo town’s vacancy rate and traffic issues has been well received locally and nationally.
The programme – hosted by Duncan Stewart – was filmed predominantly in Sligo as he tried to understand these issues which plague Sligo, and many towns like it, while also listening to the solutions which could be explored. Sligo was the chosen location for this episode as they received the largest allocation from the new Urban Regeneration and Development Fund to advance various projects intended to rejuvinate the town centre.
The opening scenes of the show saw Duncan explore the town with his granddaughter. He was impressed by the sense of history in the town, but remarked on how difficult it can be to get around with a child largely due to traffic.
“My first impression of Sligo town is that it is filled with heritage buildings, but almost every street is congested with traffic. It is one thing for me to navigate all this traffic, but trying to enjoy a shopping experience with a toddler who has her own ideas can be a little bit stressful.
“In spite of the difficulties, Sligo town still has a thriving community of independent shops keeping the town alive.”.
The first person he spoke to was Finbarr Filan, a local business owner who grew up in the town centre. Finbarr spoke about how family life was moved away from urban centres like this and how retail has changed in that time.
He said: “The streets were our playground. There were 10 families living on all these streets but over time as the children moved away and the parents retired we lost that family environment in our town centres.
“People wanted to have the playground, the space, the back garden and to be just outside the town centre. “There was a drive towards this since the 1970s to pull people out of town centres. Retail has also changed. 20 years ago people would come to shop and maybe have a coffee, now they come in for a coffee and might shop. It is all about making the town centre a place you want to be in.” Next, Duncan spoke to Alison Harvey of the Heritage Council, which headed up the Collaborative Town Centre Health Check.
Alison said: “Sligo is in the middle of the table. In terms of vacancy they are at 18 per cent and that’s just ground level retail. The normal vacancy is 5-11 per cent across Europe. Some town centres are at 24 per cent but once you are above 11 per cent alarm bells should be going off.
“If retail is going through a transformation we really need to think about how we use our town centres and find that critical mass that makes it work. “We need to introduce new tools like compulsory sale orders on vacant premises which need to be sold if you are sitting on it for two years.”
Gail McGibbon of Sligo Business Improvement District (BID) spoke about the emphasis of encouraging local shopping against the rise of online retail and how the town centre needs to attractive to people of all ages. She said: “There was a very strong sense, accelerated by Covid, that changes were coming. In 2019, the Irish spent €7 billion online. We are pushing the message of putting local first.
“If you look at town centres, you aren’t going because it’s like home, you are going for something different and we need to be offering experiences.
“Going to a place you want to eat, shop, drink, socialise, be entertained and it has to be family friendly.” Duncan also caught up with members of the Sligo Cycling Campaign. On the attitude of motorists towards cyclists, Kieran Timmons said: “Cars seem to be a priority and you get a sense people don’t want you to be on a bicycle, you hear them revving trying to get by you.”
Joan Swift also remarked on the priority of vehicles. She said: “The main obstacle is the mindset that assumes that cars mean progress and that business can’t be conducted if people can’t drive there and park outside.”
To get an insight into vacant sites and property development, Duncan spoke to Ronan Gilroy. They chatted in an unused site which is dominated by a derelict grain store. The area was once proposed for a major redevelopment project which would connect two major Sligo sites. Ronan explained the issues they faced which prevented it from being realised.
He said: “This hasn’t been built up because in 2007 permission was finally granted but there was no vitality at that time. Regulations have changed over time, the planning permission and money is dead and nobody wants to go through that process again. This site has also been on the market but no interest has been shown in it. “A building like this does make it a tricky site and there is a protection order on it, it’s a heavy investment. “When some say that land owners or developers are unwilling to develop, that isn’t true, we did and we tried and got resistance rather than assistance. “With the right supports and infrastructure, it is possible to rejuvenate these sites. It has to make sense to a potential investor.”
Finally, Duncan caught up with architects Bernadette Donohue and Cliona Brady. They spoke about how traffic congestion is an issue as it was a town built for people and the many historic pathways which could be revisited have the potential to connect the town in new ways.
“There are a series of historic coach arch pathways which run parallel to the river. The potential is there to bring The Mall closer to the town,” Bernadette said. “Towns like this were designed for people rather than cars. With a bit of creative vision we could do a lot,” Cliona added.
After the programme aired, we spoke to some of the people who appeared in it about their thoughts on how it portrayed Sligo and the impact it can have for the town.
Speaking to the Sligo Weekender this week, Joan Swift of the Sligo Cycling Campaign said that while it did an important job of highlighting pressing issues, the programme also did a good job of portraying the good that Sligo has achieved and its potential.
Joan said: “The programme showed a lot of positive imagery of Sligo, we saw the potential but the issues that were highlighted need to be addressed if the town is to be liveable again. “Noise pollution and traffic congestion are real problems that hinder the town and that has a negative impact not only on our visitors but also residents of Sligo.”
Joan said she has received a lot of feedback from people across the country as the issues here resonated with people living in similar towns and even cities.
“This programme doesn’t condemn Sligo, that was an important message to get across. What is affecting Sligo is affecting almost every other town in the country but if you have people with the will to do it, there is always hope for addressing those problems. “I think a lot of eyes will have been opened to what can actually be achieved here. URDF funding gives us a great chance to explore that potential for everything that was discussed.” Gail McGibbon of Sligo BID told the Sligo Weekender there was a need to highlight the vacancy rate problem to a national audience as it is showing no signs of alleviating across Ireland. “We wanted to draw attention to the vacancy rate, unfortunately it is a problem that just isn’t going away.” On her point about Sligo town being an “experience” for all who use it, she said: “Sligo town has to be multi-purpose and multi-function.
“Everyone wants a memorable experience. Everyone who has been holidays remembers them because they were memorable, there was new things for you to enjoy and you want everyone going with a positive outlook on Sligo.”
On traffic and parking issues raised, she said it is a “universal issue which needs to be reviewed” because improving accessibility to the town centre has to be a priority.
Speaking about growing Sligo’s potential in the face of these issues, she said that the town does benefit from a “connected team which has a vested interest in viability and sustainability” and added that programme was keen to highlight “quiet work” happening to make it possible. The Sligo episode of Eco Eye can be watched on the RTÉ Player.