'Aways looked like a stroke to me': Labour TD says Kilkenny a town, not a city - and Drogheda just as important and historic

A frustrated Louth TD has questioned Kilkenny’s city bona fides, and suggested his own native Drogheda is every bit as important, just as historic, and indeed, much bigger actually.

Labour’s Ged Nash vented his anguish in the Dáil last week, where he said Kilkenny was merely a town, and its inclusion in a scheme aimed at cities ‘always looked like a stroke’ in his view.

What had Deputy Nash so exercised is the Living City scheme, which aims to encourage people back to the centre of Irish cities to live in historic buildings. Kilkenny, a former capital of Ireland - with its vast medieval, Norman and historic tapestry, castle, abbeys and cathedrals - is included in the scheme. Deputy Nash feels his Drogheda is similarly equipped, and yet overlooked in this regard.

"I love my home town of Drogheda. Our small city is really in my DNA and defines me," he gushed.

"We have had and still have our problems. Every place does. We always overcome them. We often do so in spite of and not because of Government support. Increasingly, we have had to rely on ourselves to address the problems this Government patently ignores."

He continued: "We are a city in all but name, yet last week, a Fianna Fáil Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, again rejected out of hand my long-standing call for city status for Drogheda."

Deputy Nash is apparently in the habitat of proposing that Drogheda be included in the Living City renovation initiative. Every year, he said, his amendment is rejected. Kilkenny, through no fault of its own, was then in the crosshairs...

“This targeted tax break has helped countless owner-occupiers and developers across the country to bring many vacant and derelict properties back into use. I will give an example. In Kilkenny, 19 properties have been brought back into use,” he said.

“That is half the number of derelict properties contained in Drogheda’s town centre. I wish good luck and more power to  Kilkenny, but as the Minister of State knows, Drogheda is twice the size of  Kilkenny and it is just as historic and architecturally important.”

Minister of State Neale Richmond explained the criteria and noted that the areas are designated by the Minister for Finance on independent advice. Deputy Nash, however, doubled down — the Marble City’s innumerable charms apparently lost upon him.

“Nobody has explained to me why Kilkenny was included in the scheme,” he exhorted. “It is a town which is actually not an administrative city from a legal point of view, but Drogheda has been excluded. It always looked like a stroke to me and that will remain the case until somebody explains otherwise.”

Minister of State Richmond didn't take the bait.

"I again thank Deputy Nash for his contribution here this evening. I repeat that the special regeneration areas are designated by the Minister for Finance on independent advice. We respond to the advice and we look at the maps of the regeneration areas, as they are sought and provided," he said.

"I said quite clearly to Deputy Nash that like any tax expenditure, the living city initiative is kept under review. As I am sure he will appreciate, decisions regarding tax incentives and reliefs, whether in respect of the introduction of new measures or the amendment or expansion of existing measures are normally made in the context of the budget and the finance Bill."