Local Fianna Fáil General Election candidate Alison Comyn has hit back at criticism of her efforts to establish a dedicated City Manager for Drogheda, reiterating her commitment to restoring self-governance to the town which she says has lacked proper local representation since the government dissolved Drogheda Borough Council in 2014.

Comyn emphasised that her plan for a City Manager, an idea supported by her party colleague and Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien at her campaign launch, is just one of several strategies aimed at reversing what she called a “disastrous decision.”

“I am trying to clean up a mess created by a Fine Gael decision, supported by Labour TD Ged Nash in 2014, which abolished Drogheda Borough Council,” said Comyn. “The idea of a City Manager, supported by Minister O’Brien, is just one of a number of ways I’m exploring to achieve self-governance for the town again.”

The Fianna Fáil candidate also voiced her frustration over the backlash to her proposal, urging critics to come up with alternative solutions or work collaboratively to address the governance vacuum in Drogheda.

“I find the knocking of efforts to reverse this disastrous decision an unhelpful distraction, especially as no other viable solution is being offered,” she stated. “It would serve people better to work together for a common goal to help our region back on its feet."

Drogheda has been without a governing body since June 2014, when the then Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan oversaw reforms that reduced the number of local authorities from 114 to 31. The removal of the borough council left Drogheda without a formal governing body for the first time in over 600 years.

Comyn also noted that Fianna Fáil Councillor James Byrne is set to raise a motion at council level to harness Government support for the City Manager position, a move Comyn sees as the first step toward restoring self-governance.

At its peak, Drogheda had 24 Councillors, 12 Aldermen, a Sheriff, and a Mayor. Comyn argued that the dissolution of Drogheda Borough Council and nearby Ardee Town Council has been disastrous for the region, with administrative powers shifted to Dundalk and Navan.

“There is an old saying that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and I will not only be exploring the City Manager option, which shows Government commitment to making Drogheda a power-base once more, but also lobbying Louth County Council for a similar Town Clerk or Town Manager option too.

“We have suffered enough from what was rightly called ‘a mistake’ by Louth’s national representatives ten years ago, and my goal has not changed: to put the reins back in Drogheda’s hands to affect genuine change.”