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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?

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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.