Drogheda left out in the cold again

Where's the outrage? Where is the indignance at the blatant neglect of Drogheda? How can anyone not see what's been happening for years in relation to the disregard for Drogheda by its two councils - Louth County Council and Meath County Council?

Here's yet another in a LONG line of examples of how Dundalk is treated preferentially by LCC. Now before you start accusing me of being anti-Dundalk, let me stress that I have no problem with Dundalk getting investment of this sort. I just want Drogheda to get at least the same level of investment, and in fact more because Drogheda is a city with 52,000 inhabitants in its urban area.
Louth County Council is progressing plans to create a link road between the Armagh Road in Dundalk and the M1 motorway. Great stuff for the long-suffering residents of that area, and a much-needed piece of infrastructure for Dundalk. Hats off, fair play and all that.
One of the main reasons the new link road is being planned is that there is a heavy volume of HGVs currently using the Armagh Road, "placing significant strain on local infrastructure and causing daily disruption for residents and businesses".
Report about the new link road on Independent.ie

Here in Drogheda, the centre of our city has been clogged up not just for years, but DECADES, with heavy goods traffic serving Drogheda Port. The solution to this problem was first identified back in 1978, in the form of the Ballymakenny Cross Route. This later became known as the Northern Cross Route, and later again the Port Access Northern Cross Route (PANCR). As of January 2026, only ONE of FOUR phases of that critical road have been built.
What's more outrageous is the fact that that single piece of the PANCR was paid for by housing developers, through levies. And yet, in Dundalk, Louth County Council is happy to include the new Armagh Road-M1 link road in its major capital projects plan, and the road "will be funded through the local authority's own resources".
The mistreatment, neglect and downright contempt for Drogheda on display here is egregious.
This news further underlines the pro-Dundalk, anti-Drogheda bias of Louth County Council. To my mind, there is no defending this sort of thing. Dundalk needs a piece of critical infrastructure, and LCC jumps in and says "don't worry, we'll pay for it". Drogheda needs a piece of critical infrastructure, and has done for ALMOST FIFTY YEARS, and LCC says "let the developers pay for it".
Absolutely disgraceful. A shame. A moment in which, surely, the time has come for the creation of a city administration for Drogheda, to prise it out of the hands of LCC and MCC once and for all and to allow Ireland's newest city to properly plan and fund its future.
We've all heard the famous quote that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". We have reached a moment in the history of Drogheda when we must call time on this outrageous situation and the contemptible treatment that has been Drogheda's lot for decades.
The Government must now declare Drogheda Ireland's sixth city, and move immediately for the establishment of a city authority (city council) for Drogheda and pledge significant investment (hundreds of millions are needed, similar to what Waterford has been getting). We won't accept scraps from the table any longer.

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