Areas in Ireland doing well

mariaalice · 11-09-2014 9:54am #1

How come some town and areas in Ireland are doing so much better that others, for example I was in Dungarven recently and its doing very well you don't see the boarded up shops etc you see in say some towns in the midlands. It the same with Waterford. It might be to do with having a wealthy hinterland and to always been well a developed area and maybe to do with having a more diverse economy, tourism farming and manufacturing. Its not something that can be replicated no matter how much the investment.

Visiting various areas in Ireland its amazing the difference economically in areas considering Ireland is so small.

BoJack Horseman · 11-09-2014 10:48am

There could be so many factors in play.

Tourism.... Scenery, beauty etc.
Competence of local authorities.

Even the education, background of the people living there all play a part.

gaius c · 11-09-2014 11:54am

mariaalice wrote: »

How come some town and areas in Ireland are doing so much better that others, for example I was in Dungarven recently and its doing very well you don't see the boarded up shops etc you see in say some towns in the midlands. It the same with Waterford. It might be to do with having a wealthy hinterland and to always been well a developed area and maybe to do with having a more diverse economy, tourism farming and manufacturing. Its not something that can be replicated no matter how much the investment.

Visiting various areas in Ireland its amazing the difference economically in areas considering Ireland is so small.

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

Aimeee · 11-09-2014 12:02pm

I think any town/city that has a strong tourist economy is wealthy. Lots of double incomes there, ie many (not all) might have some way of making money in tourist season as well as the real job, ie rental property etc.
I agree that it's something that cannot be invested in if the footfall doesn't come in the first place.

porsche959 · 11-09-2014 12:04pm

Always thought Waterford city and county was among the worst affected, possibly they have bounced back slightly but it's a long way back.

chopper6 · 11-09-2014 3:04pm

Dungarvan people are not shy about fleecing visitors.

I had the misfortune to stay on a campsite there a while back...you had to pay a surcharge for everything you can imagine and it was jam packed.

Likewise the local supermarket seemed to be charging whatever they felt like to their captive audience.

mariaalice · 11-09-2014 3:52pm

gaius c wrote: »

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

Have you ever actually been to a small rural town in the north west? and compared it to Waterford. The museums are fantastic and were packed when I was there and they bring a big foot fall in to that part of the city and lots of them were having lunch coffee etc increasing the spend in Waterford.

Geuze · 12-09-2014 2:32pm

Galway city publicans and restaurants.

Killarney hotels.

washman3 · 13-09-2014 9:36pm

gaius c wrote: »

Waterford city?
It's a complete ghost town!

Limerick city almost as bad now.
Only place doing reasonably well is the Cresent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle

Silentcorner · 13-09-2014 11:18pm

washman3 wrote: »

Limerick city almost as bad now.
Only place doing reasonably well is the Cresent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle

I don't know Washman, I'd have to disagree with that one.

I do know several companies across a varied spectrum of sectors (service/construction/supplies/finance) and they beg to differ too.

The local commercial property market has seen a lot of activity recently, indeed keep your eyes out for a lot of small construction/renovating jobs, I have noticed, even in the last few months that there are now sites on nearly every block in the city centre.

The Cresent is always/has always been busy, the low vacancy rate is testament to that, indeed there are three more units currently been kitted out.

The Ballysimon/Parkway area, from a retail point of view, is always strong, the main players out here are Harvey Normans/B@Q, TK Maxx and the like, they are performing strongly, there hasn't been a closure out here since Atlantic Homecare a number of years ago.

The unemployment rate in the city is lagging, but it always does, the recent job announcements (Regeneron/Ethicon etc) are only in the early stages, but I do believe that the jobs lost in Dell in 2009 have nearly all been replaced, with, it has to be said better positions. Expect some more good news in the coming months on that front also.

Tourism has increased fairly dramatically, I have heard a figure locally that it is up approx 25% on last year, this is reflected in the hotel room rates in the city which have increased by 12%, indeed, there has been a lot of activity in this sector also http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/bidding-blitz-for-five-star-limerick-city-hotel-1-6290195
http://www.newstalk.ie/Irish-hotel-room-rates-up-10-in-first-half-of-the-year

The problem in Limerick I believe is confidence, because we nearly always equate economic performance with our city centre, and employment figures, and how we feel as individuals, and from a retail/footfall point of view the city centre is the weakest of the three main retail areas of the city, feeding that personal feeling.

But, signficantly there have been a marked increase in the amount of restaurant and coffee shops opening in the city centre, normally a good indicator.

I'd be the first to be critical of any perceived upswing, we have heard the expression "turned the corner" now so many times it has lost all meaning. But we are in a different place now than we were in last year, I believe.

The recovery will be at it's most obvious in the cities as they are the economic driver of the regions. Limerick is playing it's part in that, how sustainable it is is anyone's guess.

fleet_admiral · 14-09-2014 4:13pm

Gorey always seems to be doing very well, especially when you compare it to its nearest town; Arklow.

Asdfghjkl987 · 14-09-2014 4:16pm

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Gorey always seems to be doing very well, especially when you compare it to its nearest town; Arklow.

Gorey would be a popular holiday spot during the summer while Arklow would be bypassed on the way

nice_guy80 · 14-09-2014 8:49pm

I think certain towns in the west along the Atlantic Way have had a good summer from increased tourist numbers. Up something like 10%

Berserker · 14-09-2014 9:18pm

Gorey has tourism and Waterford has the third level institute which is always going to bring money and breath life into a town or city.

johnnyskeleton · 15-09-2014 2:16am

mariaalice wrote: »

How come some town and areas in Ireland are doing so much better that others, for example I was in Dungarven recently and its doing very well you don't see the boarded up shops etc you see in say some towns in the midlands. It the same with Waterford. It might be to do with having a wealthy hinterland and to always been well a developed area and maybe to do with having a more diverse economy, tourism farming and manufacturing. Its not something that can be replicated no matter how much the investment.

Visiting various areas in Ireland its amazing the difference economically in areas considering Ireland is so small.

Not to be glib, but to answer your question as to why this is, wealth is usually created rather than simply existing ipso facto. So if town a is prosperous and town b is not, it is most likely the case that town a is more industrious or has made better use of its resources. Town b can respond positively by competing, or negatively by trying to gain for themselves by reducing the weath of town a.

road_high · 15-09-2014 10:27am

4 areas that are doing well have one thing in common; Tourism.

Kilkenny, Galway, Cork and Dublin cities are doing well, as is Killarney.

Rightwing · 15-09-2014 1:44pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Not to be glib, but to answer your question as to why this is, wealth is usually created rather than simply existing ipso facto. So if town a is prosperous and town b is not, it is most likely the case that town a is more industrious or has made better use of its resources. Town b can respond positively by competing, or negatively by trying to gain for themselves by reducing the weath of town a.

Or parish pump politics are at play.

nice_guy80 · 15-09-2014 5:09pm

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

Rightwing · 15-09-2014 5:18pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

That's where the bertie ahern/lowry/healy rae type figures come in. If a locality has one, they'll strangely enough get the services.

ballyharpat · 15-09-2014 10:36pm

Killarney is doing great, tourism is up, prices have risen in the hotels, more ads in the newspapers for full and part-time work. The main hardware trader is busy and has taken on more staff, houses are selling, the hotels are doing renovation/repairs which means (good) tradesmen are harder to get and their prices are rising.......they in turn are spending more on lunches and eating out etc-it's a very direct knock on effect here in Killarney......

johnnyskeleton · 15-09-2014 11:02pm

nice_guy80 wrote: »

eg, take Co Roscommon.
What chance does it have to be prosperous.
Mayo and Galway get €2-3 million a year spent on their tourism marketing, Roscommon gets less than €100,000

And more tourists want to go to Galway and Mayo. If thr tourist board tried to divert tourists away from connemara and towards rural Roscommon we wouldnt get many people comig back here. And tourism isnt based on a principle of "if you build it they will come"

It is a rural farming county with little heavy industry or services industry - no port, no airport, no third level college.

Well Roscommon people are free to try to change this.

Most of the traffic passes through it - there isn't even an exit off the motorway to Galway that is officially in Roscommon - no exit from Athlone to Ballinasloe

There are 3 by my reckoning. But in any case, what purpose would an extra stop between the Roscommon side of Athlone and just before ballinasloe serve? Its only about 10 miles and there arent any major towns on the way. After Ballinasloe there is about 20 miles before the next exit - so what about he poor west galway folk. In any event the n5 goes through a lovely part of roscommon and up towards sligo.

The majority of traffic is pass through traffic on the way to Galway, Mayo or Sligo/Donegal.

Yep, because thats where people want to go.

johnnyskeleton · 15-09-2014 11:05pm

Rightwing wrote: »

That's where the bertie ahern/lowry/healy rae type figures come in. If a locality has one, they'll strangely enough get the services.

So nothing to do with Galway and Mayos rich heritage including the gaeltacht, aran islands, westport, connemara, galway city, the atlantic ocean etc?

chopper6 · 16-09-2014 10:23am

ballyharpat wrote: »

Killarney is doing great, tourism is up, prices have risen in the hotels, more ads in the newspapers for full and part-time work. The main hardware trader is busy and has taken on more staff, houses are selling, the hotels are doing renovation/repairs which means (good) tradesmen are harder to get and their prices are rising.......they in turn are spending more on lunches and eating out etc-it's a very direct knock on effect here in Killarney......

Rising prices are not a good sign.

But then that's typical rural mentality..increase prices at the first sign of profit.

Rightwing · 16-09-2014 10:24am

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

So nothing to do with Galway and Mayos rich heritage including the gaeltacht, aran islands, westport, connemara, galway city, the atlantic ocean etc?

That's very low level analysis.

Galway is doing particularly well because of the BMW initiative. Areas like Donegal have the heritage, the scenery, whatever else you want to use as a selling point and there's massive unemployment & emigration there.

mariaalice · 16-09-2014 10:50am

The point is there are factors that cant be replicated in every area, no amount of investment by government will change that, often there are cultural factors and things that have arisen organically. Broadly speaking they are.. the area was relativity better off in the first place, they have mixed economy farming, tourism, and manufacturing and possibly a third level institution which means the area has a better and broader educated population. Tourism alone is not going to save anywhere.

Rightwing · 16-09-2014 11:17am

mariaalice wrote: »

The point is there are factors that cant be replicated in every area, no amount of investment by government will change that, often there are cultural factors and things that have arisen organically. Broadly speaking they are.. the area was relativity better off in the first place, they have mixed economy farming, tourism, and manufacturing and possibly a third level institution which means the area has a better and broader educated population. Tourism alone is not going to save anywhere.

Investment will trump every other factor combined. Some areas have been completely neglected and others have got too much investment. To my amazement it's only recently the IDA have come in for criticism in this regard.

Cool Mo D · 16-09-2014 2:28pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Investment will trump every other factor combined. Some areas have been completely neglected and others have got too much investment. To my amazement it's only recently the IDA have come in for criticism in this regard.

Investment isn't doled out by the government. Private companies decide where they want want to invest, and that's where they go. The IDA can try and attract companies to certain places, but it's not their decision at the end of the day.

nice_guy80 · 17-09-2014 7:39pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

And more tourists want to go to Galway and Mayo. If thr tourist board tried to divert tourists away from connemara and towards rural Roscommon we wouldnt get many people comig back here. And tourism isnt based on a principle of "if you build it they will come"

Well Roscommon people are free to try to change this.

There are 3 by my reckoning. But in any case, what purpose would an extra stop between the Roscommon side of Athlone and just before ballinasloe serve? Its only about 10 miles and there arent any major towns on the way. After Ballinasloe there is about 20 miles before the next exit - so what about he poor west galway folk. In any event the n5 goes through a lovely part of roscommon and up towards sligo.

Yep, because thats where people want to go.

Not arguing any of your points, we know Mayo and Galway have all those.

When there is so little promotion of Roscommon as a tourist destination in comparison to neighbouring counties, or signage to get off the motorway how as a county is it meant to develop its tourism

And I don't think changing the agricultural nature of the county is the responsibility of the locals. I'm sure central government, IDA, Enterprise Ireland could do something if they bothered

A lot of tourism is based on the advertising and promotion budgets

colossus-x · 17-09-2014 9:24pm

Airports

Godge · 17-09-2014 11:58pm

Rightwing wrote: »

Investment will trump every other factor combined. Some areas have been completely neglected and others have got too much investment. To my amazement it's only recently the IDA have come in for criticism in this regard.

No point in investing in scattered rural communities, the return on investment is too low.

johnnyskeleton · 18-09-2014 12:07am

Rightwing wrote: »

That's very low level analysis.

Galway is doing particularly well because of the BMW initiative. Areas like Donegal have the heritage, the scenery, whatever else you want to use as a selling point and there's massive unemployment & emigration there.

Im sorry but you are moving he goalposts here. You were suggesting that Galway and Mayo were getting better services (tourist investment) because of the Jackie Healy Rae types.

Your general position on this thread is that places are only doing well because certain TDs are feathering their own nests to the detriment of other areas. Yet your example of why Galway is doing well is because of BMW (i assume from a quick google that they have some autoparts factory there)? I dont fully understand your logic.

Areas in Ireland doing well

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