Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I accept the Chair's ruling, which will keep the discussion open. Some of the issues that surround the petition have been pointed out. In my capacity as Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on local government, I met Mrs. McKenna and seven other members of the Drogheda city status group last week to hear their petition, which seeks to have Drogheda recognised with city status. The methodology being used by the group to indicate the merit of its proposal includes Dr. Brian Hughes's statistical analysis of the region. I do not accept the Department's response that this proposed designation, in removing a substantial amount of territory, population and resources from County Louth, would have implications for the viability of the county. Quite frankly, the status of Drogheda as a stand-alone entity has been recognised in statute for hundreds of years. In the context of this State, it had borough status for 100 years under the Local Government Act 1898. This means that for most of the lifetime of this State, specific resources were distributed towards the benefit of the people of Drogheda. In the same way, the people of my home town of Navan had their own council for 100 years. This was denied to them when the town council network was abolished in 2014 as part of the butchery of the system of local democracy.