Galway, Waterford set to lose city status and face downgrade to towns? Drogheda shafted again

Drogheda is a city by EU/OECD definitions. But FF/FG have moved the goalposts again.

Drogheda City Status Group (DCSG) commiserates with the people of Galway and Waterford on the impending downgrading of their cities by the Government to 'Galway town' and 'Waterford town'.

DCSG this week learned that not only does the current FF/FG Government not intend to grant city status to Drogheda, but the Government has announced a new (plucked-out-of-the-sky) population threshold of 100,000 for gaining city status. Surely this now means that Galway, with 86,000, and Waterford, at just over 60,000 population, must be stripped of their city titles?

In an article published by the Drogheda Independent's online edition this week, with the headline 'Drogheda and Dundalk set to regain borough councils under new local government reforms', penned by John Kierans, we read that Drogheda and Dundalk 'look odds-on to have local authority status restored in the next few years'.

The article tells us that Drogheda will not become a city (which is somewhat contradictory, since Drogheda's population at 52,000 now makes it a city under EU and OECD definitions) but rather will have a 'new' Borough Council similar to the old Drogheda Corporation, with the equivalent of a Town Clerk to run it on a daily basis. That Town Clerk will report to the CEO of Louth County Council.

In other words, Drogheda will return to an old, outdated, not-fit-for-purpose administration that was abolished in 2014 when the urban population was just 39,000.

DCSG saw this coming, and for the past year or so we have consistently stated that a return to a Borough Council would fall way short of what Drogheda - Ireland's newest city - actually needs. 

It didn't work then, and it won't work now. A Town Clerk will control only a minor, discretionary budget, with any and all major decisions about the future of our city still being made remotely from Louth County Council's (LCC) headquarters in Dundalk. In other words, there'll hardly be any change from the current situation which has seen the deplorable neglect of Drogheda for years.

A restored Borough Council answering to LCC in Dundalk also gives the "two fingers" to the 20% of Drogheda residents who live across the county border in County Meath, since they will not be served by a Borough Council (being outside of its jurisdiction), and will continue to be administered remotely from Meath County Council based in Navan.

"This Government will do anything to avoid having a meaningful discussion about how Drogheda should be properly administered," said DCSG Chairperson Anna McKenna.

"Now they've gone and moved the goalposts again, by saying Drogheda needs to be at 100,000 population before they will grant it a city administration," she continued. "This is not just unbelievable, but unacceptable."

The Drogheda Independent article states that it is understood the recommendation for a Borough Council will be made by the Task Force on Local Democracy, which is due to report its findings and conclusions to Minister of State for Local Government John Cummins by St. Patrick's Day.

The article quotes a 'Government insider' as saying that Drogheda will not get city status, 'but it will get the next best thing - its own borough council'.

"If this Government thinks that Drogheda is going to accept a sticking plaster solution like this, it can think again," said Anna. "Drogheda is Ireland's newest city, and is the fastest-growing urban area in the State. We will not accept old, unsuitable and frankly insulting solutions to our city-sized problems, regardless of how far this Government wants to move the goalposts."

"We were long told that Drogheda needed an urban population of 50,000 before it could be considered a city. Now that we've reached, and in fact exceeded, that figure, we're being told it must reach 100,000 before being made a city. What a disgraceful kick in the teeth to the people of this city."

The Government source is quoted as saying that 'The biggest issue about making Drogheda a city is where the city would begin and end - this is something no one can agree on'.

"Well if they only came and asked us, we could present them with a very clear vision and plan for the extent of a Drogheda administration, incorporating outlying villages and the East Meath area," Anna McKenna said. "In fact, we have already done this, on numerous occasions. But this Government just doesn't want to listen."

"The CSO are pretty clear on what the urban area of Drogheda looks like. The residents of Drogheda Co Meath are pretty sure where they live," Anna added.

The source is furthermore quoted as saying: 'The only way I can ever see the State making Drogheda a city is if the town's population hits over 100,000. It is not going to happen in the short term'.

If that is the threshold required for city status, Galway at 86,000 and Waterford at 60,000 urban population now must be under threat of being downgraded to towns. 



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