The once bustling town of Drogheda has been blighted for years by vacant and derelict buildings, brought to its knees by a combination of greed on the part of property owners and inertia from the local authority.
One man who has done his best to keep the issue on the top of the public agenda is Dom Gradwell who lives in Trinity Gardens which, of course, has had its own share of problems with developers and questionable planning decisions.
Dom has been running a campaign on Twitter called Derelict Drogheda @DerelictDrawda and now he is bringing the campaign on to the streets by organising a guided tour of the town with some very interesting guest speakers.
The ‘Pretty Vacant’ Tour is a collaboration between Dom and Declan Mallon and Cathal Thornton of the Upstate Theatre Company and it will focus on vacancy and dereliction in Drogheda but with a keen eye on the potential that is there to be tapped into in the town.
The tour starts in Dominic’s Park at 2pm on Sunday August 28th will wind it’s way over Dominic’s Bridge, Narrow West St, Fair St, William St and Laurence’s Gate before finishing up at Fiddle Case Pier on the north bank of the Boyne.
Along the way a variety of guest speakers will be giving talks and recitations relating to vacancy, dereliction, town centre trading, the housing and accommodation crisis, planning and development all mixed in with locally focussed original music and poetry.
The tour starts at Dominic’s Park across the river Boyne from the derelict Donaghy’s Mill where Felix Gorman will be singing a song he has written specially for the occasion. Community historian Brendan Matthews will get things off to a good start with a historical look at the trade that made Drogheda such a prosperous town.
At the Abbey Car Park Frank O’Connor, who is from Cork and a specialist in sustainable living, will discuss ideas on positive outcomes and ways to reverse the problem of dereliction.
Niall Kierans, formerly of Kierans Deli in West Street, will be giving a talk about the retail scene in town with memories of times past and looking forward to ways of achieving a prosperous future for the town. The backdrop to this part of the tour will be Narrow West Street which in itself is a warning of what can happen if the perfect storm of lack of pride and lack of policing combine.
Alfonso Bonilla, the first Mexican National to become a Registered Architect in Ireland and has previously worked for award winning practices in Ireland, Mexico and Canada will give a talk at Fiddle Case Pier where once again the backdrop is one of dereliction – the hideous old storage tanks and neighbouring derelict sites which once were home to the Oil and Cake Mills, Margarine factory and others on the Marsh Road.
The event is Free of Charge but pre booking is essential either by phone on 041 98 442 27 (Upstate Theatre Project) or email admin@upstate.ie
