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Dundalk Leader 3rd June 2026
Dundalk Leader Local Democracy Reports By LAUREN ROSS l lauren@dundalkleader.com
Hackballscross compared to third world country following water outages COUNCILLOR Robert Nash has called for the restoration of a crossborder water connection to provide a backup supply for customers in North Louth during unexpected outages. This week, one of the hottest periods of the year so far, has left customers in Hackballscross, Rassan, Shelagh and Annavacky without water for up to two days as Irish Water continues to deal with serious pumping problems, largely caused by the extreme heat. According to Cllr Nash,
an issue at the Dunbin reservoir was not discovered for quite some time due to communication cable failures. “It was only when customers in Hackballscross began reporting outages that the problem at Dunbin was identified and rectified,” he said. Unfortunately, the pumping station at Fintan Callan’s is supplied from Dunbin, and it takes several hours for water pressure to build back up before the pumps can restart. “It is also my under-
standing that the extreme heat, combined with ventilation problems, caused pumps to overheat and that additional ventilation had to be installed,” added Cllr Nash. In the meantime, customers including many cattle farmers were left without water for extended periods during one of the busiest and most demanding times of the farming year. “I have received countless calls this week from frustrated and worried farmers who are deeply
concerned about the welfare of their livestock,” he said. “This is the height of the farming season. Farmers are working around the clock to keep their operations going, provide for their animals, and produce the food supplies that our entire country depends on. The least they should be able to rely on is a basic water supply.” “You wouldn’t see this in a third world country,” stated Cllr Nash. “It is simply not good enough in this day and age for families,
homes and farms to be left without water for this length of time.” While acknowledging that Irish Water did provide emergency supplies through water tankers, Cllr Nash said this was far from adequate for farmers with large numbers of cattle. “For years there was a cross-border water connection available for situations exactly like this, and I do not believe it would take a huge amount of work to restore it,” he said. “We already have multiple memorandums of un-
derstanding and agreements for cross-border cooperation between organisations North and South. It is clearly time for Irish Water to engage with their counterparts in Northern Ireland and put a permanent backup solution in place.” “Clearly this is not an isolated incident. We have seen repeated outages over the past 12 months, and with rising temperatures and increasing pressure on infrastructure, this issue is Cllr Robert McGahon. not going away.”
Accommodation gap in focus as Louth sets out tourism strategy
LOUTH has no shortage of places worth visiting, from the Cooley Peninsula and Carlingford Lough to the River Boyne, greenways, festivals, food, heritage and historic towns, but the question now is how the county turns that into longer stays, more visitors, and more money spent in local businesses. That was the main thread running through discussion of Louth County Council’s new five-year tourism strategy, which sets out plans to grow the county as a distinctive and sustainable visitor destination within Ireland’s Ancient East and the Boyne Valley. Members heard that tourism is a major national employer, with 9% of workers in the sector and 70% of those jobs outside Dublin. The strategy was shaped by consultation with visitors, community members, tourism businesses and travel trade experts, and sets out seven themes, 15 recommendations and 55 key performance indicators, focusing on food and drink, festivals, outdoor recreation, wellness, spiritual tourism and accessible visitor experiences. While the plan was welcomed across the chamber, councillors repeatedly came back to the same practical issue, visitors need places to stay if tourism is to deliver properly for the county. Cllr Emma Coffey (FF) described the strategy as “very ambitious” and said much of what had come through the consultation process could be seen in the final report. However, she said accommoda-
tion remained one of the big challenges. “One of the big issues is accommodation, particularly in the south of the county,” she said. Mayor of Drogheda Cllr Michelle Hall (Lab) agreed, saying Drogheda had long been affected by a shortage of hotel beds. “It was very glaring that the problem with driving tourism towards Drogheda was accommodation,” she said, adding anything that could increase accommodation in south Louth was “really important”. She also referred to the D Hotel’s contract as an IPAS centre, saying Drogheda was already disadvantaged when it came to attracting tourism. A council official told the meeting that accommodation is not just a Louth issue, but a national challenge. “We know there is a problem there, and we want to expand and deliver more accommodation across the county.” With accommodation already identified as a challenge, campervans and motorhomes were raised as one way of giving visitors more options. Cllr Marianne Butler (GP) pointed to the strategy’s target of establishing motorhome facilities at three key locations by 2030, saying suitable sites need to be identified and secured early. “If we’re going to have them by 2030, we need to be identifying those sites now, securing those sites now,” she said. She also asked what work had begun on finding locations and said an operator would need to be put in place for the sites.
Cllr Maeve Yore (Ind) said there was “huge potential” in motorhome and campervan tourism, but said the council should not only look at beaches or scenic locations. “There’s also potential for motor home locations in town centres,” she said, adding that visitors parking in towns are more likely to spend money in local shops, cafés and restaurants. Annagassan was given as one example of a place where campervan tourism is already taking off, with Cllr Kevin Meenan (SF) pointing to the number of campervans visiting the area, particularly around weekends and busier periods, and said he had met visitors from as far away as Utrecht in Holland. He suggested there could be value in looking more closely at who is coming, how often they visit, where they are travelling from and what services they need and
separately, he said more could be done around religious heritage, shrines and sporting events at Dundalk Racecourse. Councillors heard motorhome facilities had already been raised several times and that possible sites are being examined, likely on a phased basis. Greenways were also raised as part of the same wider picture with Cllr Hall saying the importance of “greenway tourism” had emerged strongly from the strategy, and pointed to the potential to work with Meath County Council on links with the Boyne Greenway, while Cllr Antoin Watters (SF) said cross-border tourism should remain on the agenda, particularly through the council’s work with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and with the Narrow Water Bridge progressing. Focus also turned on Louth’s location between Dublin and Belfast, and whether the county is doing enough to make visitors stop rather than pass through. Cllr Robert Nash (FG) said tourists and buses coming from Dublin Airport should be encouraged to turn towards Drogheda and Dundalk, instead of automatically heading into Dublin city. The aim, he said, should be to get visitors to “go left” towards Louth. Cllr Sionnan McCann (SF) who said she previously worked on bus tours, said visitors were already travelling past Louth on routes to Belfast and elsewhere, despite the county having “so much potential” around mythology, folklore, the Irish language, heritage and ancestry tourism.
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She said sightseeing bus tours were “a really easy way” for tourists to explore. The meeting heard that targeting the travel trade will form part of the work, along with practical issues such as coach parking. Other ideas raised included the Táin Trail, Poc Fada, Dundalk racecourse, spiritual sites and shrines, religious heritage, the Boyne Camino, cruise tourism opportunities at Greenore and Drogheda Port, and the proposed American Presidents Trail. Cllr Yore (Ind) said the Brigid Festival was rooted in Louth’s identity and described Poc Fada as a one-day event that is “unique to Louth”, adding that there was interest from people attending it in exploring Dundalk and north Louth. She also turned attention to accessible tourism, saying Louth could lead the way with better visitor experiences and accommodation for people with disabilities and mobility issues. Advocating for Ardee, Cllr Dolores Minogue (FG) described the strategy as “excellent” and said anything that could help promote the county was welcome, pointing to the town’s tourism potential and the ongoing development of Ardee Castle. Cathaoirleach Cllr Seán Kelly said the strategy now needed to be promoted strongly. “We need to sell this document as much as possible and get it across the line to build tourism in our county,” he said. An official launch of the tourism strategy is expected in early June.