Mr. David O'Connor:

I am happy to respond to that comment with the example of the town of Wexford, where I grew up and whose population was within that bracket. It was one of the first towns in Ireland to have a pedestrianised main street. I am thankful that this is still doing well and that it has been treated very well by the local authority. It is well pedestrianised. When I grew up, it was a very walkable town. Unfortunately, our towns have expanded. People have moved further and further away, so this has become a very difficult challenge. There is evidence from UK research suggesting that where main streets are regenerated and pedestrianised, retail sales can increase by up to 30% and that retail vacancy rates can decrease. The Scotland's Towns Partnership evidence that the Heritage Council mentioned certainly fully supports the idea that, when done well, this can be good for business in the town centre. Public realm improvements can lead to adjacent units doing well and can bring people back into the towns.

The two successes I will point to are ones I have mentioned. The first is that of Clonakilty. The Cork county architect, Ms Giulia Vallone, has been instrumental in bringing together a team and working with the planners, engineers and town executive team to regenerate those public spaces and beautiful squares there. There was an awful lot of work to bring the community back in and to activate those spaces. This included car-free days, street parties and the like. Similarly, a very integrated approach was taken in Westport, County Mayo. There was a plan and the architect, Mr. Simon Wall, worked together with a team of people who moved around the town bit by bit and bucked the trend.

It is a cause for hope that, due to Covid, houses are being sold in many of these towns. The real estate markets are doing very well and that is very encouraging to see. It is one of the few good things to come out of Covid.