Sligo still has one eye on the future as a regional growth centre

“SLIGO’S significance as a centre of employment and services is much greater than its scale in terms of population.” Those were the words spoken by then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the launch of the National Development Plan in 2018 at the Knocknarea Arena.Sligo was earmarked a regional growth centre due to its great potential which was accelerating at a fast rate five years ago.Despite the setbacks of Covid-19, Sligo still boasts many positives as a regional town which will only become more attractive for employment opportunities.In the last five years we have seen the opening of a new multi-million section of the N4, IT Sligo being granted university status, the creation of hundreds of new jobs in tech industries, the turning of the sod at the Digital Gaming Hub in Strandhill and the opening of rural digital hubs.

While Covid-19 may have slowed down such progress, it crucially didn’t bring it to a complete halt. Sligo continues to move into the future at a steady pace and one step at a time is showing new means of unlocking the potential which has been hidden and unrealised for far too long.

RIGHT: Sod turning at digital gaming hub in Strandhill.