At the launch of her general election campaign last night, Fianna Fáil candidate Alison Comyn made an impassioned appeal to Minister for Housing, Heritage and Local Government  Darragh O’Brien for the appointment of a City Manager in Drogheda and, much to eveyone's surprise, he agreed.

Minister O’Brien said that it was "High time that Drogheda had a dedicated representative who would fight for the town at a national level”. 

“Having knocked on the doors with Alison and walked the streets with her, it was clear to see both the very real potential in the town and the need for a strong voice to speak up for it,” Minister O’Brien added. 

“I have given Alison my support for her call for a Deputy Chief Executive or City Manager, with Special Responsibility for Drogheda. I think this is a proposal which is worth pursuing and I look forward to engaging with her further on this.” 

Earlier in the day Ms Comyn had brought Minister O’Brien on a tour of Narrow West Street and showed him the challenges that businesses and the local community face with vacancy and serious dereliction.

“Can we have a power base back here? Alison asked Minister at the launch. “Is there some way we can have a city manager, Is there any way we can get the investment back in?

“We need to get IDA up here to show them we have shovel ready sites and the vacant BD which is a state-of-the-art facility there ready for somebody to move in. 

“I'm convinced that we must have city status in order to bring everything else that we need for the area. I heard a statistic recently that Waterford has got the Living City initiative which we desperately need here.

“Ten thousand people travel to Waterford every day to work while at the same time 8,000 people leave Drogheda. I want to stop that, to say enough is enough, we need to bring the jobs back here so we need the power base back in Drogheda. 

“The Minister agreed there is a very real need for urgent action, either through legislation and enforcement, tax incentives like the Living City Initiative or a dedicated manager for Ireland’s next city,” she told Drogheda Life . 

“He has committed to helping me in whatever way he can to secure this position, so we can get down to the real work needed in the area.”

Ang the many representatives from many organisations and community groups across South Louth and East Meath at the campaign launch was the chair of the Drogheda City Status Group Anna McKenna who welcomed the Minister’s pledge.

“Drogheda City Status Group welcomes Minister Darragh O’Brien’s significant announcement of the Government’s intention to appoint a city manager for Drogheda at the launch of Alison Comyn’s Dáil campaign for Fianna Fáil,” she commented.

“He also indicated that the Government is considering city status for Drogheda.”

“This is a further step on the road to full city status. It also answers the question of the role of the impressive new civic offices on Fair Street as future city offices,” she added.

Dom Gradwell of the Derelict Drogheda Action Group says they were surprised in a positive way by Minister O'Brien's comments at the campaign launch and give the development a guarded welcome. 

“Having a 'city manager' based in our city (and we note that the word 'city' was used and not 'town') is one of the key elements that needs to be addressed in order to revitalise Drogheda, and has been one of the key campaign issues of the Drogheda Vacancy and Dereliction Task Force.

"A city manager based in the city is just one part of addressing the issues of dereliction and vacancy that we see as a direct result of the policies of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael,” he commented. 

“Minister O'Brien's comments are as welcome as they are overdue, however the caveat always remains that everyone is on an election footing and we would like to see tangible progress on the issues prior to the country going to the polls”.