By 2020 the projected population of the county will be 100,000. That level of growth is being encouraged by Laois's location in the midlands and its relative proximity to a number of large urban centres. If, however, this line is allowed to fall by the wayside, growth could be seriously threatened. During the past year, a national retail outlet, Brand Central, set up in Rathdowney. This is a national development that attracted 650,000 visitors last year and its projected figures for this year are over 1 million. Key to the delivery of this number of customers to the outlet in question is the fact that Rathdowney is only a few miles from Ballybrophy and, therefore, rail passengers from all parts of the country have a simple method of transport to and from the store. If there is no investment in this line and it goes into decline, what future will there be for that development? How many potential visitors will no longer have ease of access to the store?