Why is the job situation so poor in Sligo?

DenMan

Cheers Brian

When I start down there, I will look into it. Will run a search for Fencing clubs in Ireland and see if Sligo comes up...:)

il gatto

Sligo has alot of outdoor activities (in fact I frequently ride around on a horse, drunk, taking pot shots at people with a bow and arrow, but that's just how I roll:pac:).
The problem is that all of the activities are available elsewhere and often many more activities. Sligo has no karting, paintball, forest park, rally school, absailing etc. Allied to the fact that Sligo has precisely zero nightlife outside of Saturdays, all we've got left is scenary and nobody seems to even know it's there.

DenMan

Who else thinks Sligo needs a Bowling Alley and a decent arcade (with pool tables etc) as well as me?

Gillie

DenMan wrote: »

Who else thinks Sligo needs a Bowling Alley and a decent arcade (with pool tables etc) as well as me?

We had it. Where Castle Interiors is now.

Was a grand spot but was ruined by muppets and the fact they put in a bar.

Was a great spot! Ah the memories!

The Werewolf

Sligo does have a lot to offer in the way of outdoor activities and I (although not originally from Sligo) think the town does have a lot of that 'small-town character' (and hills) as well as some of the stuff you'd find in the big cities. It's got a great cinema, some nice bars/cafes/restaurants and throw in the beaches, trails, horse-riding and you'd wonder what the 'zark' is stopping it from being a tourist hotspot. Truth is, I don't really know. If I did, I'd be out there making it happen(and getting rich).

I do believe however that infrastructure is the problem. Now that the center of town is closed off to traffic, getting to and from town has become more problematic. So I've been told by a few local drivers. I traveled to and from Sligo a lot in the last few years (by bus) and in my opinion, some of the roads are seriously inadequate. Too narrow in places and rather uncomfortable. It takes me 5-6 hours to get home to Limerick by bus and it would easily take that long to go by train via Dublin which is the only way to go by train. I believe that when it is easier for companies to move large volumes of goods in and out of Sligo on the best roads like all the other cities have between them, and when the Western Rail corridor is completed, it will be so much quicker and easier to get to Sligo that you will see people making day trips to the beaches and woods and the town itself. But at the moment, with an average (and I'm being conservative) 6 hour journey facing you, would you bother? I am of course speaking of those who don't drive. I know you could drive yourself a lot quicker but in this day and age, it shouldn't take 6 hours to travel 170 miles. Same goes for goods. If a large manufacturing facility was to open up in (say) Finisklin, the roads between Sligo and Galway (our nearest city) in sections are not good enough for the volume of traffic, including heavy goods vehicles would generate.

Keeping the big stores out is kind of a double-edged sword I think. Sure, having massive stores like Argos and B & Q (say) would bring loads of people into the town but at this time, I'm not sure that would be such a good thing. Firstly, they do generate jobs, yes, but how many. I don't believe a large retailer like those would generate more than maybe 40 jobs a piece, but they would have a serious impact on traffic if thousands of people are going to flock to these giants. And what does that mean for the smaller shops in town? Johnston Court is filling up nicely but what happens to the stores that have emptied to move in there? They've moved in there because I think they were given some sort of incentive to do so. It's a costly enough business moving house so I can only imagine what it costs to move a business. I think the Chamber of Commerce should look into creating incentives to fill the empty units on the streets where the stores have moved from.

The last part of my gripe is about the economy as a whole. Since the export market has all but ground to a halt, and the building/property market has now come off the rails, unemployment is set to rise nationwide. As you may know, the smaller towns will feel this more than the bigger ones because when the economy does bounce back, it will take longer for the gravy-train to reach towns like Sligo. I myself am having difficulty finding work here but I think it's a lovely town and the jobs situation will improve in time. Inflation is an issue I'm not going to go into here but I'll say this. The Irish economy has priced itself out of the global market. It's more expensive here than anywhere else in Europe. Here's a little exercise. Get the exchange rate for the Euro against the British pound. Trawl through the ads on TV. Look at the price of something advertised in both Britain and Ireland. Compare the prices using the aforementioned exchange rate and lo. I did this with a company and product I won't name but it went like this. Product was £299 in Britain and NI. Same thing was €599 here. The exchange rate was 69p to the Euro. I took my exchange rate and all that and got €433.33. So there was a €166 difference. The same goes for a lot but not all products.

Finally I think the global economy has a bit of recovering to do before we see an improvement in the Irish economy. The key is to prepare the town for businesses and then attract them. I mean there isn't even a bus service to the industrial estates or the retail park (except for Saturdays) and it really wouldn't hurt to do something about that little thing.

Anyway I must apologize for the length of this post and I hope you found it gripping rather than griping.

Xiney

Excellent post. Cheers.

TequilaMockingBird

Well done Werewolf, thats what I was trying to say, but failed!

Perhaps its the area we're from? Look at the Shannon Region, the industrial estate is bang beside an international airport, the main road out of Shannon is yards away from the industrial estate. All the roads have had major investment in the last 5 years.

Tourism isn't going to sustain a town for the year. It should be a bonus for 3 months of the year, but should be milked for its full potential when it is available. Sligo isn't even attracting tourists because its so bloody hard to get to. The only time I would notice a significant increase in tourists in the town is for the weekend of the 12th when we get a lot of visitors from the North, who in my experience, are resigned to the fact that it is a rip-off here to shop, so keep their pound in their pockets.

As for the local bus service, its a joke. As you say, their is no bus to Finisklin, or the Retail Park . Its daft. I don't drive either and it is so hard to get around without a car. Missing a delivery from the postman is a major drama round here!

Sort out the roads/trains/airport/buses transport people!

Gillie

The Werewolf wrote: »

Sligo does have a lot to offer in the way of outdoor activities and I (although not originally from Sligo) think the town does have a lot of that 'small-town character' (and hills) as well as some of the stuff you'd find in the big cities. It's got a great cinema, some nice bars/cafes/restaurants and throw in the beaches, trails, horse-riding and you'd wonder what the 'zark' is stopping it from being a tourist hotspot. Truth is, I don't really know. If I did, I'd be out there making it happen(and getting rich).

Finally a positive post about Sligo! Cheers.

If a large manufacturing facility was to open up in (say) Finisklin, the roads between Sligo and Galway (our nearest city) in sections are not good enough for the volume of traffic, including heavy goods vehicles would generate.

The stretch from Ballinascarrow to Tubbercurry is poor.
We all know about the N17 from Tuam onwards but there are plans to build a motorway from Galway to just past Tuam on the Sligo side.
The northern part of the WRC has been shelved by the way!

Keeping the big stores out is kind of a double-edged sword I think. Sure, having massive stores like Argos and B & Q (say) would bring loads of people into the town but at this time, I'm not sure that would be such a good thing. Firstly, they do generate jobs, yes, but how many. I don't believe a large retailer like those would generate more than maybe 40 jobs a piece, but they would have a serious impact on traffic if thousands of people are going to flock to these giants. And what does that mean for the smaller shops in town? Johnston Court is filling up nicely but what happens to the stores that have emptied to move in there? They've moved in there because I think they were given some sort of incentive to do so. It's a costly enough business moving house so I can only imagine what it costs to move a business. I think the Chamber of Commerce should look into creating incentives to fill the empty units on the streets where the stores have moved from.

Depends on what smaller shops you are referring to. A lot of them ripped us off for years and now they are reaping what they sow.

The Chamber should be ensuring that there are tennants available for the units that become empty ala what happened when the JC shopping centre opened.

TequilaMockingBird

I think its fair to say, at this stage, that Sligo Chamber of Commerce do not have the interests of Sligo as a whole as their remit. The Chamber fights on behalf of a few businesses in the town and that's it. When do you ever hear of the Chamber attracting businesses to the town, its always objecting to them instead.

In my opinion its a disgrace.

Gillie

sueme wrote: »

I think its fair to say, at this stage, that Sligo Chamber of Commerce do not have the interests of Sligo as a whole as their remit. The Chamber fights on behalf of a few businesses in the town and that's it. When do you ever hear of the Chamber attracting businesses to the town, its always objecting to them instead.

In my opinion its a disgrace.

They are looking after their own interests ie their own shops.
Can't blame them for that but only if they are being fair to the consumer in the first place!

brianthebard

sueme wrote: »

I think its fair to say, at this stage, that Sligo Chamber of Commerce do not have the interests of Sligo as a whole as their remit. The Chamber fights on behalf of a few businesses in the town and that's it. When do you ever hear of the Chamber attracting businesses to the town, its always objecting to them instead.

In my opinion its a disgrace.

I call for a vote of no confidence in the chamber, after which we shall oust them and beginning running Sligo in as a socialist utopia a way that would best benefit its citizens! who's with me comrades?

il gatto

Sueme, tourism is one of Ireland's biggest industries. In a properly marketed region it can be hectic for 5-6 months with seasonal boosts at bank holidays, Easter, Christmas and mid term breaks etc. In Sligo it might seem as a short injection of money as a top up to the local economy, but it should be a massive part of it.
The reason is the lack of marketing and the quality of what marketing there is. Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Roscommon all have high octane ads with catchy music. Sligo had some nervous sounding young woman reading a Yeats poem too fast while showing shots of the river in town. It was cringeworthy. Sligo has failed to promote any activity or scenary.
Likewise abroad. I don't know how many tourists have never heard of Sligo until they get here. They all know about Cork, Kerry, Galway, Donegal and all the obvious places. Why is this? Because nobody is there at the conventions and shows handing out brouchures, nobody is making a sustained and pointed effort on Sligo's behalf.
For all our economic wealth from the building industry and I.T. we should realise that one of the bedrocks of our economy was, and continues to be, Yanks looking for relatives/leprecauns, Germans looking for trad music and Guinness and French looking for anything that compares to their lovely country (and failing, the arrogant b...:D). Sligo has been missing out on what has sustained other towns through bad economic times, and with a downturn already here, we should be trying everything to bring in this outside money to keep things ticking along.

TequilaMockingBird

I don't agree that tourism can be depended on for 5-6 months il gatto, no matter how good your marketing is.

It should be a very lucrative add-on to an already healthy local economy. In an ideal world, of course.

Sligo is simply to awkward to get to, to attract the amount of tourists that we need. We have just as many attractions, if not more, as the Shannon Region, Killarney, Kerry, Dublin etc but tourists can't get to us without wasting 2 days travelling to and from an International Airport. Why would you fly to into Shannon, then sit on public transport for 5 hours to get to Sligo? You will have crossed the Atlantic in better time.

The problem is that for the same reason, we won't attract international businesses either.

I looked up the definition of a "Chamber of Commerce" today, and I was wrong in thinking that they were interested in promoting an area, they are solely working for the interests of their members. My mistake. So who is promoting Sligo? Who's job is it?

peasant

sueme wrote: »

I
Sligo is simply to awkward to get to, to attract the amount of tourists that we need. We have just as many attractions, if not more, as the Shannon Region, Killarney, Kerry, Dublin etc but tourists can't get to us without wasting 2 days travelling to and from an International Airport. Why would you fly to into Shannon, then sit on public transport for 5 hours to get to Sligo? You will have crossed the Atlantic in better time.

That actually isn't quite correct ...the Aer Arann flights from Strandhill don't connect to much ...but they are there, and so is Ireland West Airport (or Knock to you and me).

Sufficient marketing of the Sligo / Northwest region could indeed create the demand for more/better connections out of these airports.

TequilaMockingBird

peasant wrote: »

Sufficient marketing of the Sligo / Northwest region could indeed create the demand for more/better connections out of these airports.

We need the businesses first, then the airline carriers will add new routes. The businesses aren't coming because of the lack of routes (amongst other reasons).

Catch 22.




See yas down de dole office...

il gatto

We are 2.5 hours from Dublin airport and less than 3 from Shannon by car. It's longer by public transport, but nothing compared to larger countries. It's a short spin for many tourists.
The economy of Killarney, Kilkenny and Westport amongst others are based in the majority on tourism. Most business benefits in some way from it, indirectly alot of it. It's fresh money to a town. Otherwise alot of the money in a town is recirculated. The money person A earns in a shop is spent in the pub where person B earns it and then spends in a cafe owned by person C. Tourism is outside money. It's cash being directly put into the local economy.
In the tourism centers of Ireland (a status Sligo should be attempting to obtain) the tourist season does stretch for 5-6 months, obviously with a incline and decline at the beginning and end of season.

TequilaMockingBird

Right, so we get Mr & Mrs America to get off a trans-atlantic flight, get them to hire a car and drive on the wrong side of the road for 3 hours to get to Sligo. Who's going to explain to them the quaint way we like to turn the town into a maze?! Another transport disaster. Lets hope they don't want to actually get out of the car, because then they'd have to park. And Lord knows what'll happen if after a trans-atlantic flight, 3 hours weird driving, 1 hour driving round in circles, another hour looking for a parking space and then they need a loo!

Here, I don't know the solutions to the problems, but I do believe transport is a major factor. And if we couldn't attract these businesses/tourists to Sligo in the last 10 years, then we've no hope now.


EDIT:

A side note on the traffic situation in town. I doubt the emergency services are big fans.

A man collapsed on the Pearse Road today. He was taken by ambulance (with a squad car leading - lights and sirens blaring) towards the Garda station, down Castle Street, Gratten Street, John Street, in through the little alley in Tesco car-park, through the car park, over to Wine Street, and up the Mall to the Hospital.

I hope he survived.

il gatto

I know Sligo is not set up for tourists and as it stands we have no hope, but it is something that the powers that be will have to look at improving because there's not much else coming down the line for the duration. The traffic system is a joke and could be solved quite easily if the corporation had some balls.

brianthebard

balls to do what in your opinion?genuinely curious what you think could be done without fairly major work being done.

peasant

It's all pretty academic anyway, as the news just reported that tourism in Ireland as a whole is dying on its feet due to issues like flights getting dearer, weak dollar, inflated prices, etc ...

Gillie

sueme wrote: »

Sligo is simply to awkward to get to, to attract the amount of tourists that we need. We have just as many attractions, if not more, as the Shannon Region, Killarney, Kerry, Dublin etc but tourists can't get to us without wasting 2 days travelling to and from an International Airport. Why would you fly to into Shannon, then sit on public transport for 5 hours to get to Sligo? You will have crossed the Atlantic in better time.

Wouldn't agree with that at all!

Sligo is very accessable these days to be honest. Problem is ppl don't know about it.

We have a very good tourist office that should be doing more!

Christ a lot a ppl in Ireland don't know where Sligo is FFS!

Gillie

il gatto wrote: »

I know Sligo is not set up for tourists and as it stands we have no hope, but it is something that the powers that be will have to look at improving because there's not much else coming down the line for the duration. The traffic system is a joke and could be solved quite easily if the corporation had some balls.

brianthebard wrote: »

balls to do what in your opinion?genuinely curious what you think could be done without fairly major work being done.

They need to push ahead with the Eastern Bridge and forget about the White Elephant "The W2" distributor route!

Problem is that an awful lot of ppl are against this bridge but I believe it serves a greater good!

DenMan

Why would people be against building a bridge that is going to help open up the town to more people, thus making it easier for access in and out. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Sometimes the mentality of people really confuses me.

Gillie

DenMan wrote: »

Why would people be against building a bridge that is going to help open up the town to more people, thus making it easier for access in and out. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Sometimes the mentality of people really confuses me.

In fairness they are f*cking over a lot of ppl in a certain area of the town with their route selection! Gonna practically run straight through an estate!:eek:

That said it needs to progress!

DenMan

That's no excuse. The Luas line runs right through Rialto (where I lived for a while)

Gillie

DenMan wrote: »

That's no excuse. The Luas line runs right through Rialto (where I lived for a while)

Tell that to the residents!

No offence but Dublin is quite different to Sligo (or other small towns/cities).
1.5 million ppl vs 20000.

And they don't have to go through this estate but it's cheaper for them to!

il gatto

The problem is the route is proposed, the councillors agree and when some residents make some noise, some of the councillors who were backing it use it as an excuse to grab some headlines. It needs to be done with whatever tunnels/overpass they need, but it has to be done.
I also think the idea of cramming all traffic up John St. and up to the brutal Cathedral junction where four busy streets converge, is a stupid idea.
I would look at making Thomas Street and Bridge Street two-way and then have some of that traffic going down Stephen Street and Wine Street or over towards Hughes Bridge, and some of it would Take lake Isle Road and Connachtan Road and down by the hospital. That would split the flow they've sent up one route into 3 and even 4 if the current route was left in place.
Leaving Market Street one-way joining the flow as it is was also a travesty. That should've been made on way in the opposite direction and would've acted as a release valve for people who've realised they don't need to be there or want to find a different route.
Not leaving a loading bay at the GPO end of O'Connell Street is another strange decision, leaving all delivery people trying to use the one on Gratten Street (which cars are parked in but the traffic warden doesn't seem to care).
They're just some of the things I think could or should be done to improve things.

Gillie

il gatto wrote: »

The problem is the route is proposed, the councillors agree and when some residents make some noise, some of the councillors who were backing it use it as an excuse to grab some headlines. It needs to be done with whatever tunnels/overpass they need, but it has to be done.
I also think the idea of cramming all traffic up John St. and up to the brutal Cathedral junction where four busy streets converge, is a stupid idea.
I would look at making Thomas Street and Bridge Street two-way and then have some of that traffic going down Stephen Street and Wine Street or over towards Hughes Bridge, and some of it would Take lake Isle Road and Connachtan Road and down by the hospital. That would split the flow they've sent up one route into 3 and even 4 if the current route was left in place.
Leaving Market Street one-way joining the flow as it is was also a travesty. That should've been made on way in the opposite direction and would've acted as a release valve for people who've realised they don't need to be there or want to find a different route.
Not leaving a loading bay at the GPO end of O'Connell Street is another strange decision, leaving all delivery people trying to use the one on Gratten Street (which cars are parked in but the traffic warden doesn't seem to care).
They're just some of the things I think could or should be done to improve things.

Illgatto for Mayor!:D
(Or at least County Manager!;))

il gatto

If someone seconds that, is it official?:D

Xiney

Seconded, then.

(I wish)