A PETITION to grant the town of Drogheda city status has received thousands of signatures after a formal request was submitted earlier this month.
The petition has been handed to the Oireachtas by the Drogheda City Status group and argues that Drogheda deserves to be a city based on its size.
The town – which straddles Co. Louth and Co. Meath – has a greater population at 83,042 people than both Galway and Waterford cities, and is the fifth largest in Ireland.
The Chairman of the Drogheda City Status group, Vincent Hoey, said: “Such is the strength of feeling in Drogheda and its environs about securing city status that within a matter of a few weeks we have collected over 3,000 signatures demanding what is effectively an administrative mechanism where we have joined up thinking into how we can run our affairs.
"Dual administration, split between Co Meath and Co Louth, of a large urban centre like Drogheda does not work.
"It makes absolute sense to grant city status where we can have one municipal authority planning for the future.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity to effect real change in how we can best advance our residential, economic, business and community interests under the National Planning Framework.”
He added: “It makes sense and we believe it can and must happen.”
