Main St, Ireland.

maninasia

Yes, all major spending is government linked, the social welfare, civil servant salaries and contracts, subsidised multinationals etc. That has limited growth potential. It's a game of pass the parcel and can you pick up some crumbs.

I wouldn't blame things on 'cities' though. If Dublin, Cork, Galway or Limerick has good economic growth that will spill back into their hinterlands significantly, boosting tourism, earnings, companies looking to set up cheaper operations in the rest of the country etc.

In the end a given town or village needs to come up with a plan and work through it yourselves and make the best of what you have got. Put pressure on your local officials to get involved and get their jobs on the line. Show examples from other places that worked, ask them what they are doing. Try and get one or two keystone businesses to attract the crowds back to your area of town. It sounds twee but it can be done. Knock airport was laughed at but it's still going strong!

Victor

cali_eire wrote: »

A big blow to the Main Streets came with the construction of all these "car friendly" shopping centers on the suburban periphery.

Actually, what is killing the centres of small and medium towns isn't so much the shopping centres, but the car culture that has people living in the middle of nowhere. this makes it as easy to go to the nearest big town where there is more shopping choice.

maninasia wrote: »

Knock airport was laughed at but it's still going strong!

As the cost of a hobbled Shannon and a closed Galway and Sligo.

Sheldons Brain

Actually, what is killing the centres of small and medium towns isn't so much the shopping centres, but the car culture that has people living in the middle of nowhere. this makes it as easy to go to the nearest big town where there is more shopping choice.

Living in the middle of nowhere is not the issue, people will always want to go to places with more shopping choice, otherwise Dundrum shopping centre would close. When they get to the big town there are still access problems in the centre. If you live in a suburb in a medium sized town at all you are still faced with driving to the shop as there is little or no public transport.

Sir Arthur Daley

I have no pound shops in my town, plenty of euro stores though.

maninasia

Victor wrote: »

Actually, what is killing the centres of small and medium towns isn't so much the shopping centres, but the car culture that has people living in the middle of nowhere. this makes it as easy to go to the nearest big town where there is more shopping choice.

As the cost of a hobbled Shannon and a closed Galway and Sligo.

The point is you can be successful if you really push it and get behind it, blaming the failure of Galway and Sligo airports on the success of another is immaterial in my book.

Galway could have done the same thing, it didn't.

Shannon existed on subsidies for decades, at the cost of Dublin and other airports.

Swings and roundabouts.