'Historic' joint meeting of east Meath and Drogheda councillors on city status
As the campaign to secure city status grows, a historic meeting was held in Drogheda on Monday evening, when, despite the last minute canvassing demands of the local elections, the majority of councillors from Drogheda and East Meath met in the Boyne Valley Hotel at a special event hosted by the Drogheda City Status Group (DCSG).
Chairman of Meath County Council, Tom Kelly, led councillors from the Laytown-Bettystown Municipal District, while Mayor of Drogheda, Frank Godfrey, led his colleagues from Drogheda Municipal District. At the meeting – chaired by 'Dragon' and broadcaster Gavin Duffy – town planning experts Dr Brian Hughes and Eddie Phelan BE updated councillors with demographic and other data which continue to affirm the rapid growth of the Drogheda-East Meath area and the need for urgent action to take (and resource) a singular approach to ensure the orderly planning of Ireland’s next city.
Anna McKenna, Secretary of the DCSG, explained how the group was established over a decade ago and paid tribute to deceased members, Pat Carr and Eugene Kierans. Anna read a letter from their chairman, Vincent Hoey, who described the meeting as “a historic step” and apologised for his absence, owing to illness. She also paid tribute to the constructive manner in which all councillors contributed to the meeting at which several practical proposals were discussed, including the suggestion that all political parties at their ard fheiseanna should now pledge to create Drogheda City as Sinn Fein did in 2017.
DCSG members stated that failure in the past to work together had led to Drogheda and East Meath losing out on employment growth and other opportunities as the local population grew rapidly. DCSG would be following up on this inaugural meeting with incoming councillors in both the Drogheda and Laytown-Bettystown Municipal Districts following the local elections and when the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy Plan is issued shortly.