What's the future for Sligo?

BenBulben18

I'm a new poster here, but not new to Sligo (although not from Sligo). I was hoping to get people's opinions on what they think the future is for the town. Was pretty shocked to read recently that there's been no actual population growth in the town itself since 2001, and that made me wonder where it would be in 20 years time, what with everything being Leinster focussed now.

The town seems to have great schools and a vibrant teenage population, and offers a fair amount of culture. There's a huge lack of private sector companies though, and that's one of the things that has to change as I see it. Also, I think a full motorway to Dublin would make a difference in terms of attracting people to the town.

Retail-wise, I don't really get it. In the last 3 to 5 years alone, there's been so many shops that opened and closed, not to mention older businesses closing, which is always a bad thing. But you have to ask, are people doing long-term feasibility studies before they open a shoe shop, sweet shop etc? Surely it's obvious the long-term business just isn't there?

I've always felt property was expensive here relative to the employment opps on offer, and to be honest, I think we can forget further property development in the town if there isn't an increase in population.

One of the areas of great potential imo is Sligo's natural resources. You think about everything on offer (trails, wild atlantic way, water sports, potential greenways etc.) and how that could be exploited to transform the area, but nobody (coco, chamber of commerce etc.) seems to be running with it...

It all makes me wonder what the future is here and how it can be sustained as a town.
Any views?

Mint Sauce

Definitely not a Motorway!!



But seriously. The centre definitely needs to be tidied up, or some kind of renervation. When I first moved to Sligo, 11/12 years ago, there was all this talk of a massive town centre redevelopment, on Wine Street car park. Now I would just settle for them resurfacing the damn thing.

OConnell Street is both a nightmare to drive, and walk down at times. Been talk of it being redeveloped for just as long, with the latest suggestion, for it to be a new shared traffic, and pedestrian route this year.

Quayside Shopping centre, now faces one of its major anchors closing this summer, which could have a knock on effect for the rest of it. Finnisklin too have empty units and buildings, but yet they build more down there as well.

Not sure if it's part of the Government's 2040 plan, buts it's been announced, the SGH is to get a new wing, which includes a new A&E, but I wonder if they would have the money, to run it once built.

Property it's self is not over expensive, think we are perhaps one of the cheaper places in the country, with no major increase in prices.

We do also have quite astounding natural beauty, which does thankfully seem to be marketed, through different events, and initiatives.

To be honest though, Sligo should a have a lot more going for it. We are quit accessible to the rest of the country, by road, rail to Dublin, and although closed, we do have an airport. So it makes me wonder, if it's the CoCo, and the likes of the Chamber of Commerce, and related departments, that are affected it's growth and progress.

BenBulben18

Yeah motorway all the way is unrealistic of course. Even if they do the Dublin side of it, as per the motorway thread, that'll make a big difference here.

I'm surprised to hear anything new is planned for the hospital. Since services have moved to Galway (which is heaving if you go any day during the week), things have got very quiet at the hospital, and it begs the question again why are they looking to do an expansion if there isn't the population to serve it?

Same applies really to doing up various parts of the town. Is that likely to bring people here? Probably not.

More than a grain of truth in your last paragraph. If the likes of Westport can be a vibrant buzzing small town as a result of cooperation between the coco, chamber and the community, why shouldn't Sligo be?

Getting new private sector jobs in is absolutely crucial, and you have to wonder what's missing here that big or medium-sized companies are not attracted to it.

daveboy01

BenBulben18 wrote: »

Yeah motorway all the way is unrealistic of course. Even if they do the Dublin side of it, as per the motorway thread, that'll make a big difference here.

I'm surprised to hear anything new is planned for the hospital. Since services have moved to Galway (which is heaving if you go any day during the week), things have got very quiet at the hospital, and it begs the question again why are they looking to do an expansion if there isn't the population to serve it?

Same applies really to doing up various parts of the town. Is that likely to bring people here? Probably not.

More than a grain of truth in your last paragraph. If the likes of Westport can be a vibrant buzzing small town as a result of cooperation between the coco, chamber and the community, why shouldn't Sligo be?

Getting new private sector jobs in is absolutely crucial, and you have to wonder what's missing here that big or medium-sized companies are not attracted to it.

I disagree with you that renovating the town wouldn't bring in visitors - I think it would help. I think:
1. O'Connell St has to be pedestrianised asap
2. Wine St Car park needs sorted - as the earlier post says even resurfacing it and doing a bit of landscaping would help - some grass areas even?
3. I've long thought the area outside the Ulster Bank where the Yeats statue is would make a good plaza / town square - if the traffic and car parking could be reduced and the are re-paved it could be done relatively simply.
I agree with your comparison to Westport - we have some really great scenery, good arts/culture scene, decent transport links and hotels - why can't Sligo be up there with westport?
I also agree with you re jobs - another major employer (apart from Abbot/Abbvie) is badly badly needed

Buford T Justice

daveboy01 wrote: »

I disagree with you that renovating the town wouldn't bring in visitors - I think it would help. I think:
1. O'Connell St has to be pedestrianised asap

Unless they come up with a decent traffic management plan for the town then pedestrianising O'Connell St will cause more problems than it solves.

dingding

Hopefully, it will coincide with the eastern bypass and the western distributor road, but it is Sligo thinking may not be that joined up.

NinetyTwoTeam

Sligo is fecked, has been for years. I loved living there but had to leave, there's no opportunities there.

Strange, in the irish times article about Ireland 2040 nonsense where the Connolly's owner was talking about how Sligo is always forgotten, he said 'We don't do enough with Yeats.' For God sake i thought the opposite, Sligo has way more to it and yet everything arts and culture wise seems to want to be about Yeats - who barely spent any time there and isn't even actually buried there, either.

purcela

A Dubliner here, haven't personally travelled to Sligo but do mean to. I was in South America in 2016 and met several British backpackers who raved about Sligo. Different groups too. 2 English girls told us that they travel over every year to go horse riding, and there was an English guy with his German partner who were raving about the surfing in Sligo, they said they've surfed all around the world and Sligo was one of their favourite places.

I was explaining to them that I have never noticed much advertising domestically encouraging people to visit Sligo for horse riding and surfing (however I'm not into these activities so maybe that is why). They were shocked that more Irish people aren't visiting the county.

It always stuck with me that we have this well renowned county on our doorstep but don't visit it...and I really must visit myself asap.

Andy From Sligo

Ah yeah tourist wise, scenic wise, fresh air wise, lakes and rivers wise Sligo is beautiful ..... It's the retail I am not happy with over the years , it just doesn't seem to move on like some other counties have . At one stage a plethora of shoe shops, now every 5 minutes a new cafe seems to pop up somewhere. There's only so many cups of tea and a bit of cake you can have lol

Don't get me wrong there are some good shops but the are sort of like dotted all around the place and not together , the narrow streets are a pain, the lack of pedestrianise on the main shopping street is silly , there are tables outside cafes but you get a lung full of traffic fumes,

the delivery trucks throughout the day are a pain (on the narrow streets) and chock up the town centre, either parking on double yellow lines / pavements to deliver or use up car park spaces that should be left free for customers, the car park spaces are dotted all around the place and no facility for any kind of free parking (from what I can see) the shopping centre (small) doesn't seem to be used to its full potential with a lot of wasted closed units and silly laid out.

The one way road system of the town is stupid. There is no popular fast food chain (McDonalds, burger king) actually in the town centre (ie O'Connell Street) , and funny enough years go the main Street (OCS) had a burger king and a McDonalds right opposite each other and they were most times quite packed , so I don't know why they both closed down, And the (just) out of town retail park are not allowed to sell everything and only certain type of shop is allowed up there , again stifling competition and progression.

Yeah once all this retail malarkey could be sorted out once and for all and brought up to date and sorted out better and certain rules can be re-worked(such as the carraroe retail park rules) this could be a fantastic place to visit along with the lovely scenery and everything Sligo has going for it. But on the other hand I suppose a lot of tourists don't really come to Sligo to shop so maybe it's not an issue for those visitors , it's just an issue for us poor buggers who live here and want a decent town to shop in and not have to travel to other towns to shop that are better.

AlmightyCushion

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

Sligo is fecked, has been for years. I loved living there but had to leave, there's no opportunities there.

Strange, in the irish times article about Ireland 2040 nonsense where the Connolly's owner was talking about how Sligo is always forgotten, he said 'We don't do enough with Yeats.' For God sake i thought the opposite, Sligo has way more to it and yet everything arts and culture wise seems to want to be about Yeats - who barely spent any time there and isn't even actually buried there, either.

There's a sign that says 'For Yeats sake, please don't litter'. We've shoe-horned his name on to a littering sign, I don't think we could do any more with him.

JupiterKid

Unless Sligo attracts a major industry/employer or cluster of inter-related industries then the future for Sligo town is very bleak. Sligo is no longer the biggest population Centre in the Northwest - it lost that rank to Letterkenny years ago.

Something is badly wrong with the way Sligo is managed and marketed. The relevant agencies or people involved need to seriously up their game or Sligo will slowly stagnate into a very peripheral tourist town with the scenery and being on the Wild Atlantic Way and a few shops selling trinkets to visitors and precious little else. For Sligo to thrive and develop, it needs enterprise and a reason for people to move there. That clearly isn’t happening at the moment.

BenBulben18

This is absolutely true. There's no sense here that any of the powers that be are looking outward to attract people or tourism here. Yeats has been done really, and Sligo has lots to offer otherwise.

It's clear that retail (already a sector under threat generally) won't increase unless there's population growth.

That all said, there's an IDA here and you have to assume they're doing their best to get private enterprise here, so what's the block for companies? Is it connectivity, infrastructure generally, or something else? There are very good schools here so no reason why the place wouldn't appeal to families.

I just don't get it. It's like there are vested interests actually forcing the place to stay as it is and preventing anything coming in to change it. It won't end well.

Andy From Sligo

BenBulben18 wrote: »

This is absolutely true. There's no sense here that any of the powers that be are looking outward to attract people or tourism here. Yeats has been done really, and Sligo has lots to offer otherwise.

It's clear that retail (already a sector under threat generally) won't increase unless there's population growth.

That all said, there's an IDA here and you have to assume they're doing their best to get private enterprise here, so what's the block for companies? Is it connectivity, infrastructure generally, or something else? There are very good schools here so no reason why the place wouldn't appeal to families.

I just don't get it. It's like there are vested interests actually forcing the place to stay as it is and preventing anything coming in to change it. It won't end well.

I wonder what comes first in this situation? - does population grow when there are more shops (a selection of what people want).... or do shops not set up because there is not the population?

ah yes the the old 'preventing anything coming in' - you know going back years ago in sligo when we moved here in 1991 we chatted to quite a few people in Sligo and we used to say how beautiful sligo was with all its scenery rivers, lakes and mountains and surfing and slower pace of life among other things and my wife used to say this county was not advertised to its full potential and why was most things kept secret ... to which someone said we dont want it to change, we have something great here - if we advertise to all and sundry this are will become like all the other towns and then it looses its originality.

and over the years, the more that people moved in the more they were referred to as 'Blow-ins' - then whenever a new a new large store open there were cries of 'those UK chain stores coming in and taking business away from small local businesses who have been here for years" - to even being snubbed by people who said 'they were going to continue to shops they have shopped with for years and not set foot in these new chain stores"


I know times have moved on since the 90's but I really still wonder if any of that attitude has really ever gone away. I still think to this day that still some of the people really dont want Sligo to flourish in the way of over-run with tourists and a growth of shops - of course the tourist boards and the people in the tourism market or who have a business relying on the money that tourists bring in want more tourism to the area, but some of the people in the area still want sligo to stay relatively unchanged I think. - and on the shops front if people have been shopping for decades with the same shops they would not be too bothered about what 'chain' shops open up - or if shops in the area have been family run businesses over the year they dont want a load of new shops either

BenBulben18

New people coming in and settling comes first I reckon.

I've heard that attitude too over the years, but the fact is, many older, family-run businesses have closed down too and are still closing, so there's no point in people thinking just because they stick with the older shop and don't go to the chain, that the older business will remain viable. There's still competition and good old supply and demand to factor in tbh.

T-Bird

Sligo is in a difficult situation. Population is small because there are no jobs. Abbott came here in the late 70s and are the only real company with pulling power here. They (or sister company) have announced big expansion but most jobs will be temp and also specialised.

Our infrastructure is terrible. We may not need a motorway from Dublin but we should at least have it 90 percent dual carriageway. If you're an overseas company looking to save a bit out tax by coming to Ireland and looking for a county to establish poor Sligo has not got a chance against the likes of Galway, Cork or Dublin.

As a result the population of Sligo is shrinking. The big shops will not come here because of the small footfall and the existing ones are closing for this reason.

Sligo has become a forgotten county and I believe was also going to be forgotten again in this new 2040 plan. Luckily some constant lobbying from a few TDs and others have hopefully made a difference and things will start to get better.

Andy From Sligo

just wondering , Im not that well up on projections and plans these businesses have to give to the banks , but if a company/retail shop wants to open up what 'population' is it people resident or are Tourist's to the area that are factored in?

Andy From Sligo

cor im in me element now, just found this page on facebook - there be no stopping me now!

Whats-wrong-with-Sligo-Facebook

dingding

Also the number of negative people who knock things in Sligo

Andy From Sligo

dingding wrote: »

Also the number of negative people who knock things in Sligo

depends what you mean by knock Sligo ... I Love Sligo for the place that it is , the scenery, the beaches , the breathtaking mountains, lakes and rivers, the way of living (although I would say it was more laid back in the 90's to what it is these days) the people, most of them are lovely. - I am not that into arty farty image Sligo likes to push a lot of the time (the wife is though) and pretentious places that seem to pop up around sligo - I am not that much into arty farty food either - give me something plain good food any day - just a normal good quality cafe does me, we dont need so many pretentious eating establishments that are in Sligo - but hey if it brings tourists in and other people like it then why not I suppose - after all thats what really sligo seems to push most these days , food, art and yeats related stuff and wild atlantic way. (I suppose its pushed for surfing as well)

My wife would kill me for putting up on here but we are like chalk and cheese she loves arty farty things , and different arty farty pretentious food - give me a plate of egg and chips and a mug of instant coffee any day in a cafe at a very reasonable price not an arm and a leg and I am happy LOL

JupiterKid

The fact that Ireland's population has grown by over a million in the past 20 years yet Sligo town's has shrunk is a damning indictment on the fortune of the town. Letterkenny passed Sligo out in population over a decade ago.

Something is very badly wrong. I think some sort of a forum should be set up- involving the local authority, the enterprise board, the town centre retailers, the IDA, the IT and other relevant stakeholders should be set up with urgency to try to flesh out a coherent strategy for the town. To figure out a way to selling the town to inward investment and not just another talking shop.

Sligo has a lot going for it and should be the pre-eminent town in the North West- it is actually incredible that it has not grown in line with other Irish towns its size. It should have doubled in size over the past 30 years.

Remember that Galway was once a peripheral, poor, and remote town in the West only just over 50 years ago. It had less than 25,000 population as late as 1966. And look how it has grown since. Over 80k population today and still growing.

Why can't Sligo capture some of that energy?

5rtytry56

JupiterKid wrote: »

Sligo has a lot going for it ,

Sligo successfully faught off the very much intended complete closure of it's railway infrastructure (port as well as Dublin Sligo passenger line) in the 1970s.


Roll on 40 years and It seems that the fighting spirit has gone out the same authorities nowadays.

doolox

...to which many services are moving from the Northwest and Roscommon and elsewhere.

The same thing is happening in the likes of Kilkenny, Waterford and the smaller potential cities, all the complex services and educational activity are being sucked into Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway because of the existence of the holy trinity of 3rd level unis, large hospitals and a technical presence in one place.

Waterford and Kilkenny need to enlarge by setting up a degree awarding institution of some sort, also Sligo, Letterkenny and possibly Athlone need to form a partnership between their IT's in order to get the power to award level 8 degrees and Masters in a similar way to DIT, I think theirs are accreditied by Trinity.

The thing that allows growth in Leinster is education. It is what allowed North Leinster to get Intel and the same needs to be done in the South East and North West.

T-Bird

IT Sligo is in partnership and seeking university status via The Connacht-Ulster Alliance [CUA]. Their science block is state of the art and has customised courses for local businesses.

dingding

T-Bird wrote: »

IT Sligo is in partnership and seeking university status via The Connacht-Ulster Alliance [CUA]. Their science block is state of the art and has customised courses for local businesses.

The Science block is just one of the many capital projects over the past 10-15 years.

The running track, knocknarea arena, all weather pitches, library extension, student services building, the science building, the student canteen, the aurivo auditorium together with a number of smaller refurbs and most recently the school of business and social sciences block. Also with the amount of land on the campus it would be one of the finest institutes of technology in the country.

The great thing about the Sligo campus is that it was designed before it was built so there is a great flow to the building, not many IoT's have this. Also the use of light inside is great.

T-Bird

dingding wrote: »

The Science block is just one of the many capital projects over the past 10-15 years.

The running track, knocknarea arena, all weather pitches, library extension, student services building, the science building, the student canteen, the aurivo auditorium together with a number of smaller refurbs and most recently the school of business and social sciences block. Also with the amount of land on the campus it would be one of the finest institutes of technology in the country.

The great thing about the Sligo campus is that it was designed before it was built so there is a great flow to the building, not many IoT's have this. Also the use of light inside is great.

I had a look around the new School of Business block when the TDs were up the a couple of weeks ago. It's a fine modern looking place now, and I agree with the use of light. Great open areas and big screen computers in all the tech rooms.

dingding

T-Bird wrote: »

I had a look around the new School of Business block when the TDs were up the a couple of weeks ago. It's a fine modern looking place now, and I agree with the use of light. Great open areas and big screen computers in all the tech rooms.

Also plenty of place for students to meet and study. A number of restaurants / coffee shops, the ground floor of the library, about 20 meeting rooms in the library and in the new Business and Social Sciences block a number of student areas and meeting rooms for self study.

The screens in the labs also support school work. In that the lecturer can handle control over to the individual students in the vicinity of each screen.

While all the universities in Ireland are of a bigger scale, the environment in IT Sligo would largely be better. There are a number of areas to refurb but most of the institute would have been refreshed in the past 15 years.

I was a student there in the early 90's and it is completely transformed.

Andy From Sligo

dingding wrote: »

Also plenty of place for students to meet and study. A number of restaurants / coffee shops, the ground floor of the library, about 20 meeting rooms in the library and in the new Business and Social Sciences block a number of student areas and meeting rooms for self study.

The screens in the labs also support school work. In that the lecturer can handle control over to the individual students in the vicinity of each screen.

While all the universities in Ireland are of a bigger scale, the environment in IT Sligo would largely be better. There are a number of areas to refurb but most of the institute would have been refreshed in the past 15 years.

I was a student there in the early 90's and it is completely transformed.

sounds really good ...

T-Bird

dingding wrote: »

Also plenty of place for students to meet and study. A number of restaurants / coffee shops, the ground floor of the library, about 20 meeting rooms in the library and in the new Business and Social Sciences block a number of student areas and meeting rooms for self study.

The screens in the labs also support school work. In that the lecturer can handle control over to the individual students in the vicinity of each screen.

While all the universities in Ireland are of a bigger scale, the environment in IT Sligo would largely be better. There are a number of areas to refurb but most of the institute would have been refreshed in the past 15 years.

I was a student there in the early 90's and it is completely transformed.

It certanly has changed since then. I graduated from there 3 years ago and have noticed huge differences.

All they need to do now is to take some ideas on how Waterford IT advertise...

marvin80

T-Bird wrote: »

It certanly has changed since then. I graduated from there 3 years ago and have noticed huge differences.

All they need to do now is to take some ideas on how Waterford IT advertise...

The follow-on from this is getting jobs in Sligo to ensure graduates stay to live and work in Sligo.

dingding

marvin80 wrote: »

The follow-on from this is getting jobs in Sligo to ensure graduates stay to live and work in Sligo.

The announcement that the road between Caltra and Mitchel Curley Park is significant.

The main purpose is to serve lands owned by the IDA for industrial development.

redarmyblues

dingding wrote: »

Hopefully, it will coincide with the eastern bypass and the western distributor road, but it is Sligo thinking may not be that joined up.

There is no plan for an Eastern bypass, there is a plan for a road between Ballinode and Cranmore Road, maybe that's the problem with Sligo people aren't informed enough, there was a plan for a western bypass but the council in their wisdom removed it from the county development plan.

_feedback_

"Eddie Rockets style diner" coming next door to the cinema

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/new-restaurant-for-wine-st-36998880.html

Vlove

_feedback_ wrote: »

"Eddie Rockets style dinner" coming next door to the cinema

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/new-restaurant-for-wine-st-36998880.html

Great another restaurant *sarcasm*:rolleyes:

mano79

Vlove wrote: »

Great another restaurant *sarcasm*:rolleyes:

I would have thought this would be good for town. A diner beside the cinema you would think it would do well. Its probably one of the things thats missing in town - an affordable hang out spot for young people and couples heading out to cinema etc. Supermacs and McDonalds are based out of town and the 4Lanterns is not exactly the cool hang out spot so the options are limited at the min

red sean

When units lie idle people post sarcastic remarks on here, and when a unit is being re-opened the exact same happens.
A classic no-win situation.
If the opening of this unit leads to just 2 jobs, then it's great news.
But sure why give up the opportunity for a bit of negativity!

Andy From Sligo

red sean wrote: »

When units lie idle people post sarcastic remarks on here, and when a unit is being re-opened the exact same happens.
A classic no-win situation.
If the opening of this unit leads to just 2 jobs, then it's great news.
But sure why give up the opportunity for a bit of negativity!

lest us not forget that everyone should be able to have an opinion on something or anything, even if it doesnt set well with others who have different views and people are not setting out to upset other peoples views or bring the town down by having different views, especially on something that is happening in the town where we live and for a lot of people havent got the luxury to drive or travel to another town if they are not happy how their town is turning out.

I personally think the poster has a point yes there IS too many eating establishments in the town (thats where most probably the sarcasm point comes from) - I dont like empty units, but on the other hand I dont like empty units taken up by cafes/restaurants and other units because that could (granted it couldnt as well) be a unit that could have been taken up by another business / retailer that could even be there longer than an eating establishment could be and pull more shoppers into the town - (because there are only so many eating establishments a town can hold for the footfall that comes to the town and hungry visitors and some will do well... but some will be there for a while and find out they have got so much competition in the way of restaurants and cafes etc )

but saying that I think an Eddie Rockets style eating place will indeed (or should do) do very well there because its in the right location, right next to the cinema , and it seem an ideal place for one (hope its not too costly because it is already costly to buy a cinema ticket and food, and then if you come out and fancy popping next door for a bite to eat then it will end up quite an expensive night out)

In the UK before I left in the 90's cinemas where already expanding and they were no longer just a place to go to watch a movie they realised their was a market for people to have a full experience . in fact the cinema that was only half hours drive from where I lived had 10 screens, a Bar serving , a burger place (like eddie rockets) and a niteclub and a bowling alley all built into the same building of the cinema.

sligoblue

Ah, I don't think there is a shortage of units available for other retailers to choose from. Variety in any sector is good, I think ER's will be a good alternative to McD's/4lights etc and the location next to the cinema, in the town centre is excellent. Must admit, bedrudgers get up my nose, this restaurant will no doubt employ a lot of full time/part time staff, so here's my opinion, if you don't want it, don't go there.

Andy From Sligo

sligoblue wrote: »

Ah, I don't think there is a shortage of units available for other retailers to choose from. Variety in any sector is good, I think ER's will be a good alternative to McD's/4lights etc and the location next to the cinema, in the town centre is excellent. Must admit, bedrudgers get up my nose, this restaurant will no doubt employ a lot of full time/part time staff, so here's my opinion, if you don't want it, don't go there.

is it going to be an eddie rockets though .... or an eddie rockets 'type' restaurant place? - there could be a big difference between the 2

Andy From Sligo

sligoblue wrote: »

.... Must admit, bedrudgers get up my nose,...

really? - cant say begrudgers get up my nose tbh. when i hear others say that other towns have better selection of shops , better parking, cheaper parking, pedestrianised main streets, modernised main streets and street furniture and mentioning that sligo has too many restaurants, cafe's , shoe shops barbers and little else i dont think they are begrudgers i just think they are disappointed that Sligo has been stuck in the past and not moved on like other towns have - thankfully with me I love Sligo town as a whole , the scenery the views the (not overly congested) and generally the whole area of Sligo because its beautiful - but if I get fed up with the shopping (or lack of shops) i can whiz in the car to Ballina , carrick on shannon , Galway, Castlebar and even enniskillen and get my retail fixes there - but feel sorry for the poor old 'begrudgers' that do not have the facility to travel and are just stuck with Sligo Town centre for the shopping .

Ah well if this long awaited revamp of o'connell street ever goes ahead (end of this year isnt it?) that might improve Sligo town greatly. - But if all the empty units are taken up with cafes or un-imaginative shops (when someone goes out shopping who says "oooh I love that town it has lots of cafes and restaurants" - no, they normally say oooh it has a marks and spencers or a big penney's or a Tesco superstore" or any other chains shops (sorry to mention chain stores and I know people should be supporting local businesses and shops but lets be honest, shoppers these day are veering towards all the chain shops thats where the shoppers are going to and supporting these days - if thats what it is veering to (and it is) and Sligo Town centre hasnt got a pull of well known chain shops ... then a lot of people (if they got cars and can travel) are simply going to shop and spend their money at a town which has a lot of well known chain shops.

dingding

One of the things I hate is that in many towns are exactly the same. You have a high street with the types of shops that you mention. I think what Sligo has in its retail offerings is a uniqueness that other towns have and rather than been a negative I think it is a strength.

You have lovely and unique and restaurants like cafe Fleur, sweet beets etc....

Much nicer than a the standard town centers that you meet in a lot of places.

Enniskillen is indistinguishable from a typical UK highstreet with the multitude of charity shops and rebranded weatherspoons. Although the lower part has some nice shops.

Controversial I know but give me Sligo anyday.

Andy From Sligo

dingding wrote: »

One of the things I hate is that in many towns are exactly the same. You have a high street with the types of shops that you mention. I think what Sligo has in its retail offerings is a uniqueness that other towns have and rather than been a negative I think it is a strength.

You have lovely and unique and restaurants like cafe Fleur, sweet beets etc....

Much nicer than a the standard town centers that you meet in a lot of places.

Enniskillen is indistinguishable from a typical UK highstreet with the multitude of charity shops and rebranded weatherspoons. Although the lower part has some nice shops.

Controversial I know but give me Sligo anyday.

Its got to beg the question why? - why do all town look nearly Identical these days with the same old popular shops and loads of well known chains (mostly british , granted) well I am not into marketing but if I am going out on a limb I will say because this model must work ! - and thats why towns have looked at other towns and have welcomed and try to get these big names to come to their towns and set up, and the powers that be have even offered incentives and pulled out all the stops to get these big names that shoppers want in their town ..... and then we have Sligo who in some ways look at other towns and say we want to be original, we dont want to look like other town and high streets .... and then theres the empty units as well and there doesnt seem any enthuisasm of having a piece of the cake/success that other towns have had ... and whats more they know that people are shopping out of town to other towns and they still dont want any of the success of other towns ... because they want to keep it original (some might say outdated in this day of shopping meccas) and even some shoppers and people live in the town dont want it to end up looking like other towns , and then in the past if big stores wanted to open up in sligo they havent been welcomed they have had to face conditiions of where they can set up / operate from then planning permissions turned down (sometimes from other shop owners in the town, looking after their own business and not welcoming competition) so then the shops that pull shoppers into a town have gone to the next town along who have welcomed them with open arms. Yes they may look a carbon copy of other towns and high streets but they have footfall and less empty units

I'd say - if it was done properly and run properly , Sligo could indeed still have its uniqueness and its quaint little local run shops ... but alongside modern shop businesses (and yes chains , why not? - they normally / hopefully employ local people - so although the shoppers money is going to chain stores and not as such to local businesses they are at least most of the time employing / giving employement to local people and the money helps to keep people in jobs still) -

as long as chain stores and big shops are viewed in Sligo as these big horrible monsters and that they are 'taking business away from local shops' and that they are shaping the town centres with their logo's and buildings to make all the towns identical and look all the same (is that really that much of a bad thing?- the chain stores look bright and cheery and clean and improve the look of the area) - well anyway as long as people (people that live in the area and powers that be that have the final say on what the town centre should be/end up like) are saying big stores are taking business away from smaller local stores and that they are making every town look identical ... well then , nothing much will change in Sligo town centre - yes that will please some people that uniqueness ... but what if its a uniqueness of empty units and run down units because the rents and rates are out of the league of local run business to make a long term go of a shop, but are in reach of larger stores / chain stores - then is that a good thing too? ... yes Sligo will not look like all the other 'identical towns' .. but shoppers who should be shopping in their own home town will continue to shop out of the town because Sligo will not have the shops they want to shop in, and get everything they want in one go but nearby towns might have those particular stores that people want (all conveniently grouped together and not one shop here and then another shop they want to get to up the other end of town, dotted all over the place)

I get mixed messages myself .... I get sometimes that sometimes there are people moaning (including officials) that people should shop local, and they dont like local people spending their money in other towns ... but then the other mixed signal I get is that people want Sligo town centre to stay the same and not look like other towns and dont like the chain stores. And then I think its time for Sligo Town Centre and its people to makeup their mind one way or another - does officials and some people living in Sligo want Sligo to stay quaint, unchanged , old fashioned and not modern with a high street that doesnt look like other high street shopping centres in Ireland? ... fine if they do nothing wrong with that ... or do they want Sligo town centre to be a metropolitan , one of the most fantastic shopping hub in the northwest so that people even outside Sligo Town centre want to travel to and shop because it has some fantastic well known shops that people want to shop at and spend money in, and visit not only for the shops but also because Sligo has some great scenery, great beaches mountains and lake and facilities - because I honestly think at this stage , and this is my view, that you cannot really have both I think - not these days. You have to say what you want Sligo Town Centre to be / end up like and then you have to stick to it.

If Sligo town centre ends up a faceless retail hub with a town centre that looks like any other town centre - I welcome it. - If Sligo Town centre ends up being mostly local owned shops and not the popular chains then I will still like it - I am not going to gloss over it, if the local shops are going to be overpriced though because they have high overheads to meet because they are not part of a large organisation , or if they cannot carry the selection because they have only a local shop and not enough floor space then me personally , and i know loyalty goes a long way, but money is still tight these days, I am more than likely going to shop out of town if I cannot get selection of what I want at the price I want it at - I , the same as other people most pobably look into the logics of it (ie spending petrol to hope in the car to the next further away town) I will just require the item at the best possible price and the selection I want in a nice bright clean welcoming environment that the larger shops can offer - obviously I will look locally first in Sligo to see if I can get the item and at the price I want to pay (as I have done for years) but if I dont find it in Sligo or overpriced because its being sold in a local family run business - then I will travel to a town with better shops (as I have done in years) - I know local businesses are suffering and they need all the business they can get or they will close (yes I have heard too many time the saying "use it or loose it" and "shop local, your money stays locally and not goes to a british chain store") yes I have heard those slogans/sayings and I respect them ... but at the end of the day , I like hundreds of other people have to keep an eye on outgoings and shop for the product at the best possible price ... unless you happen to be rich!

redarmyblues

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

really? - who says "oooh I love that town it has lots of cafes and restaurants" - no, they normally say oooh it has a marks and spencers or a big penney's or a Tesco superstore"

Practically everybody likes a town with lots of cafes and restaurants, if having M&S or Tesco in a town was a criteria for success then Sunderland would be the rival of Paris for tourists.

The "Lets Move to Section" of the Guardian is a weekly property porn piece which iterates through desirable places to live in, on that other island across from us and while it positively oohs and aahs over places with a large selection of independently owned bars, cafes, restaurants I have yet to see it enthusing about a proliferation of chains stores and anyways the large British High Street chains are engaged in large scale retrenchment as shopping habits change, bricks and mortar retail is mainly for the high road and town centres are becoming places of leisure, where sipping coffee, eating tapas and browsing antique and vintage shops and that quirky little boutique, "you know the one that only sells black and white clothes" is the norm.

That people come on here and complain when a new catering establishment opens in a previously empty unit beggars belief it really does.

Andy From Sligo

redarmyblues wrote: »

Practically everybody likes a town with lots of cafes and restaurants, if having M&S or Tesco in a town was a criteria for success then Sunderland would be the rival of Paris for tourists.

The "Lets Move to Section" of the Guardian is a weekly property porn piece which iterates through desirable places to live in, on that other island across from us and while it positively oohs and aahs over places with a large selection of independently owned bars, cafes, restaurants I have yet to see it enthusing about a proliferation of chains stores and anyways the large British High Street chains are engaged in large scale retrenchment as shopping habits change, bricks and mortar retail is mainly for the high road and town centres are becoming places of leisure, where sipping coffee, eating tapas and browsing antique and vintage shops and that quirky little boutique, "you know the one that only sells black and white clothes" is the norm.

That people come on here and complain when a new catering establishment opens in a previously empty unit beggars belief it really does.

no reason why the quaint cafe's and eating places cannot stay in town and the shops like M&S and other chains still come ... but be situated in the right places - i personally believe the right places for the cafes and restaurants is down in the Italian quarter and Rockwood parade .. and leave the high street units for the high street stores

Andy From Sligo

muffler wrote: »

@ redarmyblues and And From Sligo - you know what this thread is about so if you wish to continue your debate on other matters please start another thread as I advised earlier.

Muffler - there is a thread under Sligo called "What's the future for Sligo?" - could you move the ones your not happy with to that thread?

muffler

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

Muffler - there is a thread under Sligo called "What's the future for Sligo?" - could you move the ones your not happy with to that thread?

....and done

Andy From Sligo

muffler wrote: »

....and done

thanks muffler thats better

dingding

JupiterKid wrote: »

Unless Sligo attracts a major industry/employer or cluster of inter-related industries then the future for Sligo town is very bleak. Sligo is no longer the biggest population Centre in the Northwest - it lost that rank to Letterkenny years ago.

Something is badly wrong with the way Sligo is managed and marketed. The relevant agencies or people involved need to seriously up their game or Sligo will slowly stagnate into a very peripheral tourist town with the scenery and being on the Wild Atlantic Way and a few shops selling trinkets to visitors and precious little else. For Sligo to thrive and develop, it needs enterprise and a reason for people to move there. That clearly isn’t happening at the moment.

This is starting to happen over the past month or so. Abtran with 350 Jobs, Livetiles and E3 are setting up software houses here specialising on AI and Cloud technologies. This links in with what Overstock and other companies are doing.

Todays announcement of 150 Jobs means that over 600 jobs have been announced in the past month or so.

The begrudgers will say that some of these projections are up to five years out.

The support for enterprise with the Embankment and The Building Block will slso support and does support some tech workers doing some very interesting work.

While some people here want Sligo to be a clone of Letterkenny and I have my own views on the commercialising of the high street using a UK business model. The jobs that are announced will have more disposable income in Sligo and the great thing is that many of the jobs announced are quality high paying jobs.

We have something unique in Sligo the river and how the town has been reorientated around it. I know I will be attacked about this but having some of the larger retail operations on the outskirts allows the growth of the town centre with the sorts of artisan restrurants and coffee shops.

There is plenty of car parking around Sligo if everyone was prepared to walk 5 - 10 minutes.

The facilities near Sligo are amazing, with the walks, the lakes and sea, with the WAW. Sligo also has many more quality hotels than many other towns.

When you are doing comparisons, you should look at Longford, No hotels of note and a dead town centre. But they probably have a larger Tesco and probably has better shopping for groceries.

Andy From Sligo

dingding wrote: »

This is starting to happen over the past month or so. Abtran with 350 Jobs, Livetiles and E3 are setting up software houses here specialising on AI and Cloud technologies. This links in with what Overstock and other companies are doing.

Todays announcement of 150 Jobs means that over 600 jobs have been announced in the past month or so.

The begrudgers will say that some of these projections are up to five years out.

The support for enterprise with the Embankment and The Building Block will slso support and does support some tech workers doing some very interesting work.

While some people here want Sligo to be a clone of Letterkenny and I have my own views on the commercialising of the high street using a UK business model. The jobs that are announced will have more disposable income in Sligo and the great thing is that many of the jobs announced are quality high paying jobs.

We have something unique in Sligo the river and how the town has been reorientated around it. I know I will be attacked about this but having some of the larger retail operations on the outskirts allows the growth of the town centre with the sorts of artisan restrurants and coffee shops.

There is plenty of car parking around Sligo if everyone was prepared to walk 5 - 10 minutes.

The facilities near Sligo are amazing, with the walks, the lakes and sea, with the WAW. Sligo also has many more quality hotels than many other towns.

When you are doing comparisons, you should look at Longford, No hotels of note and a dead town centre. But they probably have a larger Tesco and probably has better shopping for groceries.

these people on high income wages , will they want to shop in a town centre that hasnt got the shops that they might want to shop in? - and they will have cars (nice cars cause they will be on a decent wage) and money for petrol ... wont they travel to LK and galway and the like to get their retail fix?

of course I suppose the other way of looking at it is that if there is more footfall in sligo then maybe the big retailers might want to open up shops then in Sligo (if they are not turned away again or made difficult for them to set up and sell what they want like previously / currently)

AlmightyCushion

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

these people on high income wages , will they want to shop in a town centre that hasnt got the shops that they might want to shop in? - and they will have cars (nice cars cause they will be on a decent wage) and money for petrol ... wont they travel to LK and galway and the like to get their retail fix?

of course I suppose the other way of looking at it is that if there is more footfall in sligo then maybe the big retailers might want to open up shops then in Sligo (if they are not turned away again or made difficult for them to set up and sell what they want like previously / currently)

They might drive to Galway or Letterkenny the odd time alright just like a lot of other people in Sligo do but they won't be doing a 3-4 hour round trip every time they want to do a bit of shopping. They will still spend plenty of money in Sligo.

redarmyblues

No harm to Letterkenny but it is the worst planned and ugliest town in Ireland, bits of farms and derelict oil refineries in the centre of the town. The main street has a hill full of chip shops at one end and a hollow full of knocking shops at the other and it's dying a death at the expense of a retail park made up of brutalist concrete boxes tenanted by UK chain stores, if you think that buying your smalls in a failing mid range retailer like M&S is the height of sophisticated living then move to lively Letterkenny and enjoy it's wonderful Saturday night chip bag throwing and street fighting scene .

If you want to see a plausible and sustainable model for Sligo then take a trip south to Killarney, they have really got their act together down there.

Anybody wishing for John Lewis etc to open round here better Google "crisis on the high street " the UK chain model is fecked.

rizzodun

rizzodun wrote: »

Jobs - There's no point having 40k people here if there's no-where for them to work.

We have seen major employers in the town and surrounds either close down or reduce staff since 2008 pretty much.
Bowling alleys, Shopping centres, M&S that people keep whingeing about won't set up here if there isn't people to spend money in them.

We need a few more major multinationals to set up in the north west to give people a reason to live here.

Right now we're heavily reliant on tourism, we have some of the best tourism orientated companies in the country here, like Northwest Adventure Tours, Seatrails, Sligo Kayak tours, Strandhill surf school etc etc, and we're lucky to have what we have on our doorstep, but they'll not anchor a few hundred full time employees and all the supporting business at large companies bring.

We have to convince these large companies that 2.5hrs from both major ports and airports is not that much of an issue, and we have the infrastructure to support them.

Can't remember which Councillor said something to the tune of broadband not being and important prerequisite for FDI in Sligo, but to me it showed their complete lack of knowledge of how modern companies work. Where I work, all our systems are managed direct from Germany, if the connection goes down, we cannot work.

Saying that, I'd hate for any large multinational to come in at the detriment of the tourism industry in Sligo, we are so fortunate to have what we have, no M&S store and double population would make up for that being wiped out.

rizzodun wrote: »

Companies set up based on infrastructure, quality of workforce, cost of labour and other costs, and tax breaks for the most part.
Some of the particularly self conscious companies will also consider quality of life for their workforce, but this means cost of living & safety, availability of housing and education for their young so that they build a life here and stay with the company for the long haul.

No company will come to Sligo because we have a bowling alley.

Bring the multi nationals, then build the town around that.

There's no catch-22 situation here, if it doesn't make sense for companies to set up here then no amount of chain stores or public amenities will change that.

I know this, because I have visited large manufacturing plants in France and Germany, some of which were in towns where there isn't even a supermarket never mind a cinema or bowling alley.

They had a main motorway and rail line close by, cheap enough rates and a well trained workforce in place.

The workforce commuted from towns close by, which had grown due to the increase in population coming to work nearby.

Honestly, I've been critical of the chamber in the past for a lot of things, and the CoCo too, but to think a M&S and bowling alley are our saviors is ridiculous.

rizzodun wrote: »

They've built a 2900 sq mtr Manufacturing facilty in Finisklin, with (two I think) more greenfield sites available in the business park, and are actively looking for someone to fill the now-vacant Elanco manufacturing facility.

I also believe Sligo CoCo drafted and sent Simon Coveney a document outlining what Sligo has to offer to FDI earlier this year.

Seeing this discussion coming back up I remembered I had given my opinion back in October 2017 so thought it was worth adding here again.

Regarding the bit in bold, I know there was a comment that probably expressed cynicism that sending anything to Coveney would make a difference, but certainly when you hear of the jobs secured over the last few months, perhaps it has made a difference.