'My home town used to be one of the finest in the country - now it's gone to the dogs'

My home town Drogheda used to be one of the finest towns in the country – now it is gone to the dogs.

When I was a kid growing up it was full of shops, bars, cafes and busy from one end of the week to the next.

it didn’t matter what day of the week you went downtown, it was always busy, full of people, full of cars, and bustling with colour and energy.

Now it has become a ghost town with historic buildings falling down, around 25 derelict buildings, and a complete lack of investment by our local authority Louth County Council and the Government in the area.

Drogheda has not had a cabinet minister for years and it shows. Nearby towns in the north east like Navan, Trim, Dundalk, Cavan and Monaghan are smarter, busier and cleaner. You can see with your own eyes where the money is being spent and good luck to them.

The anger among our local community is now at breaking point. We are only 28 miles from Dublin but we have become the forgotten people of Ireland. We have watched our medieval, historic home being brought to its knees by total state neglect and incompetence and no one in authority is prepared to do anything about it.

The removal of Drogheda Corporation as it was known almost a decade ago on June 1,2014 by the then Fine Gael-Labour Government has been an unmitigated disaster. The town came under the control of Louth County Council which is run from Dundalk and has gone downhill at a hundred miles an hour ever since.

As the fastest growing town in Ireland Drogheda has a population of around 60,000 with 41,000 in the old borough on the Louth side and another 20,000 living in suburbs on the Meath side. Meath County Council equally has no interest in Drogheda and is reluctant to spend a penny on its Drogheda citizens.

The problem the people of Drogheda have is they are all paying big sums of money in property taxes and none of the cash is being spent in the area. The centre should be swept, cleaned and washed everyday but it isn’t. Many days the thrash bins aren’t empty and grass in green areas hardly ever cuts. We don’t have what most normal people regard as local Government services.

The County Council are spending millions on plush new offices in Drogheda but not a cent is being spent on rejuvenating our beloved town centre. It was only a few years ago that Drogheda was the talk of the country for all the wrong reasons over the local drugs feud.

This left four people dead and many citizens terrified to leave their homes or to call to various housing estates in the locality. The Gardai did a good job and got on top of things after a year or two of effective policing arresting over 500 people with dozens jailed for drug dealing, acts of violence and money laundering.

Most of the ringleaders responsible either died or fled the area for foreign shores. But the Garda Commissioner in his wisdom has now reduced the number of cops in Drogheda and there is hardly a Garda to be seen on the beat in the town centre from one end of the week to the next.

This has led to various incidents of anti-social behaviour with drunks and junkies occasionally causing trouble on the main streets. And then to make things worse a few weeks ago the Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman decided to use the last hotel in the town, the D Hotel, open for business for international protection refugees, right in the middle of the town centre.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman speaking to the media at Dublin Castle

He refused to listen to the local business community about the catastrophic fallout this would have and cost Drogheda at least five million euros a year in lost revenue. His arrogance and decision was another dagger in the heart of Drogheda.

The local people are sick to the teeth of what is going on and the never ending neglect and dire lack of investment. It is estimated the whole town centre needs capital investment of 40 to 50 million to restore it to its former glory.

The people want their town made a city but Louth County Council is vehemently opposing it and the Minister responsible for the local authorities Darragh O’Brien does not want to know. Another 20,000 people are due to move into Drogheda in the coming years. There are thousands of new homes being built on the northern side and yet no retail, schools or sports facilities to match.

In the last 20 years both Louth County Council and Meath County Council allowed retail parks and shopping centres to be built on the areas they controlled on the outskirts of Drogheda to secure extra commercial rates even though they knew this would seriously damage the centre of Drogheda. This did not happen in either Navan or Dundalk.

We the people of Drogheda are sick to death of this current Government’s failure to invest in Drogheda. Successive ministers have broken every promise under the sun. The truth is the state now sees Drogheda as the main dumping ground for refugees in the country – there are 2,000 to 3,000 already here – and does not give a damn.

We don’t mind taking our fair share of refugees , we just want the investment so that the whole lot of us can have a proud town we call home. I love my town and want it back. We are immersed in history between Oldbridge House and the Battle of the Boyne site, Newgrange, Millmount and some of the best beaches and finest golf clubs in the country from Clogherhead to Laytown.

I have wonderful memories growing up in Drogheda and would never wish to live anywhere else. The people are amazing as all the Dubliners who moved to Drogheda in the last 30 years found out. The people have a great sense of humour but they absolutely believe the Government is taking the mick.

Our new young Taoiseach Simon Harris says he wants to genuinely help the people of Ireland. Well I invite him to Drogheda and if he can get us the investment we need we will remember him for ever. The truth is almost every government department except the one for refugees and civil servants do not know where Drogheda is on the map and it is a national disgrace.

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