A task force for jobs and investment in Drogheda, the restoration of a local authority, tackling dereliction, reversing the commute and funding for a new stadium for Drogheda United. These are some of the issues that Ged Nash promises to tackle in his election manifesto.
Labour’s Louth TD, Ged Nash, has launched his election campaign with a ‘Drogheda Manifesto’ that lays out the local TD’s vision for his home town.
Launching the document that will be the foundation for his campaign to retain a seat for Labour in Louth in the next Dáil, Deputy Nash said: “I am ambitious for Drogheda. It’s a special place but we are not reaching our potential.
“With Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, we have had eight years of failure and wasted opportunities. This coalition of conservatives is holding us back.”
Nash said he is the local candidate who is best-placed to be a Minister in the next government if elected to the next Dail and to deliver real results for Drogheda and all of Louth.
Laying out his campaign priorities, Deputy Nash said he wanted to “reverse the commute” and bring jobs and investment into Drogheda.
He said the town had not received its fair share of IDA investment with just nine IDA-backed companies operating in Drogheda, compared to 24 in Dundalk.
He said: “On ‘Day One’ if elected to government, I will establish a high-level Task Force for Jobs and Investment in Drogheda to take a multi-agency, plan-led approach to the creation of good jobs, and sustainable local economic development.” He said the Drogheda Implementation Board – a concept he brought to the then government as an opposition Senator in 2018 – proves that integrated, plan-led approaches deliver results.
The Louth Labour TD said that revitalising Drogheda’s town centre and tackling the scourge of dereliction and vacancy would continue to be a high priority for him and his Labour colleagues.
He said: “Nobody has worked harder than the local Labour team on tackling Drogheda’s dereliction problem. We have pioneered the West Gate Public Realm vision, which can help transform this neglected part of our town.
“Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Ministers for Finance, including as recently as last month’s Finance Bill, have lined up to bury my proposals to include Drogheda in the Living Cities initiative, an urban regeneration tax break provided to smaller cities like Kilkenny, but denied to us.
“Dereliction is a form of official vandalism. Labour has proposed making it easier for Councils to take charge of buildings and to put them to good use as homes, businesses and cultural spaces.”
Allied to that, Deputy Nash wants to see the restoration of a local authority dedicated to Drogheda.
He said: “Bringing Town Government Back is essential, as Drogheda needs its own local authority that can act in the interests of the town and wider region.
“Amid all the hot air, Labour remains the only party to have put forward an actual Bill to restore borough and town councils and the time has come to have them re-established, particularly in Drogheda.
“The ultimate ambition is to achieve city status and install a city government to go with it, but the restoration of our Borough Council would be a crucial and achievable first step in bringing local decision-making back to Drogheda.”
Against the background of Drogheda United winning the FAI Cup Final and at the same time being snubbed by government who failed to approve their grant application for the Drogs’ new stadium, Deputy Nash insisted the stadium development must be delivered.
He said: “As a lifelong supporter of Drogheda United, I was extremely disappointed that the government failed to back our club’s application for funding under the Large-Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF).
“If elected to the next Dáil and to government, I pledge to have the stadium project funded and to deliver a step-change in the funding of football in Ireland.”
Deputy Nash’s ‘Drogheda Manifesto’ also contains commitments to work for affordable housing, recreation facilities for the town, enhanced rail services, educational investment and delivering Drogheda’s driving test centre.
In Deputy Nash’s concluding pitch to local voters, he said he was a “proven changemaker” and wanted to play his part in kick-starting a “decade of delivery” for Drogheda.
