Tholsel perfect for tourist office
SHOP Street trader, Ann Fox has a simple question for the borough council: 'Who owns all the unoccupied premises on West Street and why doesn't the council force the owners to rent them out at a low rent to bring life back into the street?'
Part of the Fox Jewellers family, Ann thinks the time has come for radical action. She wants her home town to become more like a craft centre, perhaps more like Kilkenny City.
'The council should put artists or craftspeople who have just graduated from college into those units or perhaps unemployed people who want to start their own business - anything to make the place feel alive again.'
The Tholsel should also become a new tourist office because it is currently 'a waste of a building', she adds.
'It would be perfect for a tourist office drawing people into West Street, creating a new buzz around the town and also using this historic building once again.'
Tourists should be bussed into Drogheda from Newgrange and other heritage sites, she feels, because there is no incentive to get into the town.
A lack of communication between businesses, the local authority and the tourist/visitor agencies is also highlighted by Ann Fox. 'I go on bridge weekends and whenever we go to Donegal for a few nights, we are handed vouchers for money-off or discounts in all the local shops. What is wrong with us doing
people
similar
in something Drogheda?'
Another of her suggestions is the revival of the Bonanza Festival which was run many years ago.
'It was a great thing for the town and featured events like Miss Drogheda. I know everything costs money but the Bonanza was a wonderful festival which the whole of Drogheda got involved in for a number of years.'
- Christine DOHERTY
