Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Government to set up a task force to do something about the dereliction in Clonmel town and the closure of many businesses, particularly Market Place, a spanking new development that was a division of iar-Sheandóir Fergal Quinn, God rest him, and a fabulous place. It is now vacant and derelict, and it is an appalling vista. There are many other areas on Gladstone Street and O'Connell Street. We need a task force with the district council and Clonmel Chamber of Commerce. I salute the hard-working businesspeople who are keeping their shop doors open every day, paying rates but getting very little support from the Government or anybody else, employing people and making the town a living town. Some of the schemes like Croí Cónaithe might help with housing and should help to convert some of those buildings, but Market Place itself needs a revitalisation plan and it needs a task force to deal with this.

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